SKA - Dynamo Moscow

SKA - Dynamo Moscow - 3:2

10 November 2015

Following a two week long break, SKA returned to the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace to take on fierce rivals HC Dynamo Moscow. Interim head coach Sergei Zubov handed a debut to recently signed defenceman Vyacheslav Voynov, and he was inserted into the first line along with Yegor Yakovlev. Our starting goaltender was Finn Mikko Koskinen, while Alexander Yeryomenko took his place between Dynamo’s pipes.

It was a red hot atmosphere as this one got underway, and the fans were treated to a pulsating opening frame. With very few pauses the puck flew from end to end, and both goaltenders had plenty of work to do. SKA’s Mikko Koskinen was the busier early on, and he did well to save a dangerous Ansel Galimov second attempt at point blank range. Nevertheless SKA gradually begun to take over, and following a long shift inside Dynamo’s zone the score was opened. Dmitry Yudin sneaked through on the right, squared for Ilya Kablukov, and the latter flicked beyond the goalkeeper’s blocker. Our team were full of adrenaline, and should really have made it two. Jarno Koskiranta and Alexander Barabanov passed up two huge rebound opportunities, and Maxim Chudinov’s powerful slapper trickled along the goal line before being cleared. Dynamo are always dangerous on the counterattack though, and against the run of play they equalised. Mikko Koskinen couldn’t keep hold of an effort from the point, and Martins Karsums bundled it in. The visitors gained confidence from that, and immediately took the lead. On a powerplay Dmitry Vishnevsky slapped, and it flew over Mikko’s glove. Dynamo continued to hold the initiative, and had a number of clear chances to score their third. Maxim Pestushko blasted wide of an empty net on the right post, and Mikko made three stunning saves in a row with the frame coming to a close.

Dynamo carried on making all the running moving into the second stanza, and only Mikko Koskinen prevented the score from becoming worse. The Muscovites were having no problem in setting up inside our zone for long periods, and our players simply couldn’t skate away from defence. Juuso Hietanen came the closest for Dynamo as he rung the right post, and Mikko was making several saves all over his crease. It was one way traffic, but out of nothing SKA conjured up a big of magic. Nikita Gusev darted beyond the Dynamo defence, and brilliantly wristed under Alexander Yeryomenko’s glove. The Ice Palace saw its roof taken as that goal went in, but Dynamo still were the more dangerous. Martins Karsums skated away two on one, fed a teammate to the right, but Mikko bailed out our team with a superb flash of leather.

Any goal was going to be crucial now, and just two minutes into the third period it came. Anton Burdasov wound up for a massive one timer on the left circle, and he ripped the puck into the top corner. Naturally SKA opted to defend for the majority of the remaining time, and all the emphasis was shifted on to Mikko Koskinen. Our Finnish wall came up big too, as he continued to make save after save. Dynamo kept on dumping the puck deep into our zone, and SKA were making lives harder for themselves by making several turnovers. One of those mistakes let Martins Karsums in clean through, but he couldn’t find the five hole. Dmitry Tarasov was also stoned from the doorstep, while for our team only Jarno Koskiranta came close with a tricky wrister glove side. The nerves were jangling as the final moments ticked by, but despite Dynamo pulling their goaltender Alexander Yeryomenko SKA held on for a thrilling 3:2 victory! The next match will take place in Saint Petersburg on Thursday against HC Vityaz Podolsk.

Match protocol:

SKA – Dynamo Moscow – 3:2 (1:2, 1:0, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Kablukov (Ketov, Yudin), 04.28

1:1 Karsums (Hietanen, Tsvetkov), 14.00

1:2 Vishnevsky (Shipov, Galimov), 17.06

2:2 Gusev (Voynov, Kablukov), 32.43

3:2 Burdasov (Gusev, Kablukov), 42.03

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Yeryomenko

Shots on target: 31 – 34

Faceoffs: 29 – 26

Penalty minutes: 6 – 4