SKA - Dynamo Moscow

SKA - Dynamo Moscow - 1:2

28 December 2014

SKA played its final match of 2014 at home to Dynamo Moscow. Mikko Koskinen retained his place in net after beating HC Slovan Bratislava, with Ilya Ezhov backing him up. Alexander Barabanov was in the fourth line, with Alexey Ponikarovsky playing as the extra defenceman.

It was a very tense start inside the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace, as neither team could control the puck overly well. Eventually it was Dynamo who began to take up the initiative, and they ended up completely bossing the frame. Jimmie Ericsson and Nikolay Belov handed the visitors two very handy powerplays, and Mikko Koskinen had to make some seriously tough saves. The best of the lot came against Konstantin Volkov, as our goaltender stoned the Dynamo forward on the doorstep with a stunning swipe of the glove. Maxim Pestushko then could and should have given Dynamo a deserved lead, however all alone on the right faceoff circle his stick broke on him with the net already half open.

Things began to even out in the second stanza, and it was now SKA creating some wonderful opportunities. With a man’s advantage Vadim Shipachyov was fed to the right of the crease, went for a one timer, and smacked his effort off the near post and out. Alexander Sharychenkov in Dynamo’s net wasn’t having any rest-bite now, and Yevgeni Ketov almost caught him out with an unexpected wrister glove side. Dynamo broke through first though, as on the powerplay Maxim Pestushko finished off a clever passing move on the right. 0:1 after 40 minutes.

If SKA took a while getting going, it was certainly all leading up to the third period – our team simply laid siege to Dynamo’s goal, getting away in total 17 shots on target and playing at an unbelieveable tempo. It was only a matter of time before the equalising goal came, and it was Andrey Kuteikin who struck gold as he was teed up all alone by the left hand post. All sorts of chances came and went after that, with Alexander Sharychenkov making some brilliant stops for Dynamo. However with only 28 seconds remaining, our team were hit with a hammer blow – the visitors sped away on a three on one, and Maxim Karpov made no mistake to break SKA hearts. 1:2, and SKA finishes the year losing to Dynamo Moscow again.

Match protocol:

SKA – Dynamo Moscow – 1:2 (0:0, 0:1, 1:1)

Goals:

0:1 Pestushko (Volkov, Osipov), 29.47

1:1 Kuteikin (Thoresen), 45.51

1:2 Karpov (Tvsetkov), 59.32

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Sharychenkov

Shots: 36 – 18

Penalty minutes: 10 – 6

Faceoffs: 32 – 19

Hits: 32 – 22

Blocked shots: 10 – 9