SKA - Jokerit - 2:1 SO

15 February 2015

SKA took to the ice against Jokerit Helsinki for the last home match of the 2014/2015 KHL regular season. Head coach Vyacheslav Bykov seemed a satisfied man after the 3:1 victory over Dinamo Riga on Wednesday, and made minimal changes to the line-up. Mikko Koskinen was still between the pipes, with Roman Cervenka partnering Jimmie Ericsson and captain Ilya Kovalchuk in the first line. Defenceman Nikolai Belov was inserted into the second alongside Andrey Kuteikin.

It was a cautious opening period for the most part, with very little openings being found at either end. Mikko Koskinen barely had a touch of the puck, making only three saves, while his counterpart Henrik Karlsson had a bit more work to do. SKA upped the tempo as the frame moved on, and Nikolai Belov wristed wide of the left post when in a fantastic position up close. Ilya Kovalchuk was looking fired up, and he tested the goaltender's reactions twice from the tip of the slot. The breakthrough was looking inevitable, and with just over two minutes remaining it arrived. Roman Rukavishnikov dumped in from the blue line, and after a sharp deflection it deceived the goalkeeper.

In the second Jokerit slowly but surely came out of their shell, and Mikko Koskinen was being involved in the action more often than not. Niklas Hagman tested his reactions when bearing down from deep, and Steve Moses almost got on the end of dangerous wrister into the slot. Small details were always going to be telling in such a match, and SKA’s first penalty was punished instantly. Ville Lajunen took aim, and Mikko Koskinen reacted too late to glove it. That kicked our team into action more, and before the period was out Vadim Shipachyov came very close to a second tipping inches wide glove side.

As time wore on it became clear that the next mistake was going to prove crucial, and both sides closed up completely at the back. There wasn't much goalmouth action at either end, although it was Jokerit who came the closest to winning. Firstly Eetu Poysti wristed inches wide of the left hand post when on the doorstep, and then Niklas Hagman slapped over the crossbar. Overtime it was, and again the visitors came close to taking all the spoils as Ossi Vaananen was shut down from point blank range. In the shootout however it was SKA who came to the fore, as coupled with beautiful Ilya Kovalchuk and Pyotr Khokhryakov efforts Mikko Koskinen kept his net clean. 2:0 in the penalty shootout and 2:1 overall, as SKA finished their home regular season campaign with a win against Jokerit!

Match protocol:

SKA – Jokerit – 2:1 SO (1:0, 0:1, 0:0 – 0:0, 2:0)

Goals:

1:0 Rukavishnikov (Shipachyov), 17.49

1:1 Lajunen (Moses, Omark), 31.22

2:1 Khokhryakov, 65.00 SO

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Karlsson

Shots: 39 – 22

Penalty minutes: 2 – 4

Faceoffs: 30 – 35

Blocked shots: 17 – 11

Hits: 33 – 21