SKA - Jokerit

SKA - Jokerit - 3:2

7 February 2021

In a memorable encounter, SKA just had enough to defeat HC Jokerit Helsinki at home in the 2020/2021 KHL regular season, surviving a tense end to the match to emerge victorious by a score of 3:2.

This was indeed the last game before the upcoming international break.

Jokerit made an intent start at the Ice Palace. After John Norman had initially gone close with a whipped wrister from the left wing, the Finns did manage to take the lead in the 12^th minute of proceedings, as Markus Hannikainen lashed the loose puck beyond the stranded Alexander Samonov when completely unmarked on the crease.

Nevertheless, to their credit, SKA did conjure up a response. Although few clear-cut opportunities were on show, our players did trouble opposing goalkeeper Samuel Jukuri on 16 occasions throughout the opening 20 minutes of play, with Maxim Groshev, Vasily Podkolzin and Pavel Kukshtel proving to be particularly dangerous.

SKA immediately came out with all guns blazing in the second stanza. However, after a handful of ideal chances were passed up by our team, Jokerit managed to grab a real foothold in the game and trouble our defence with intent, physical play inside our zone.

The hosts were really struggling to generate any momentum against a highly organised Jokerit team. The Finns seemed to be in full control of the match, however, with the second frame approaching its climax, SKA suddenly tallied an equaliser against the run of play.

Following wonderful play by the lively Marat Khusnutdinov deep inside the Jokerit zone, the puck dropped at the stick of Podkolzin, who thumped an unstoppable wrist shot past Jukuri to bring the supporters to their feet.

SKA went on to take their first lead of the evening on the powerplay in the third minute of the third period.

When Anton Burdasov’s stick contrived to snap when he was unleashing a slap shot, Andrei Kuzmenko reached the bouncing puck quicker than anyone else, knocking it into the already empty net with Jukuri out of the picture.

Jokerit subsequently greatly increased their intensity. Requiring an equalising goal, the Finns laid siege to the SKA net, applying overwhelming pressure on our defence. The away team were getting closer to their second but, on a rare SKA counter-attack, they suffered a damaging blow as Burdasov ruthlessly fired into the right corner after receiving an accurate pass from Ivan Morozov.

To the surprise of many, that didn’t seem to affect the Finnish club. Despite that setback, Jokerit continued competing on the front foot, and they did eventually tally their second goal in the 58^th minute on the powerplay as Alex Grant went top-shelf on Samonov from the blue line. Head coach Lauri Marjamaki had pulled Jukuri for the extra skater after Joonas Kemppainen had taken a hooking foul.

Marjamaki then swapped Jukuri for the sixth skater once again for the concluding shifts. Incredibly, with Samonov on his game and the home players displaying admirable commitment to block several shots, SKA somehow managed to hold on and successfully see the match out.

SKA will next be in KHL action on February 16 against Spartak Moscow in Saint Petersburg. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA - Jokerit - 3:2 (0:1, 1:0, 2:1)

Goals:

0:1 Hannikainen (O’Neill, Loov), 11.27

1:1 Podkolzin (Khafizullin, Khusnutdinov), 38.37

2:1 Kuzmenko (Burdasov, Morozov), 42.51

3:1 Burdasov (Morozov), 53.15

3:2 Grant (O’Neill, Lepisto), 57.18

Goalkeepers: Samonov - Jukuri

Shots on target: 35 - 26

Faceoffs: 31 - 18