SKA - Jokerit

SKA - Jokerit - 6:3

25 September 2015

SKA returned to the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace to take on Finnish rivals HC Jokerit Helsinki. This game holds great importance for both teams, and around 1000 Jokerit fans made the short trip to Russia for this fixture. Andrei Nazarov kept Ilya Ezhov in net following his heroic performance against CSKA, and the only change saw Alexei Ponikarovsky take his place in the fourth line. Riku Helenius was Jokerit’s starting netminder.

The first frame saw very little goalmouth action, as the teams played it tactically waiting for a mistake from one another. Despite being the visitors Jokerit did most of the attacking, and for long periods held the puck deep in SKA’s zone. Ilya Ezhov grabbed a few deflected efforts from the point as our players struggled to clear effectively, although Jokerit’s Riku Helenius did eventually have something to do. Maxim Chudinov had the best attempt, as his huge slapper was kicked wide with the left pad. Only one real clear cut opportunity was carved out during the stanza, and it fell to Jokerit. Pekka Jormakka was allowed to skate down to the left post, and only Ilya Ezhov prevented him from netting. To make up for the lack of goalscoring chances tempers took a rise more than once, and even our goaltender was almost tempted into fighting Niklas Hagman.

No one saw it coming, but the second period turned out to be a goal festival. If the first was a cagey, tense affair, the second saw the teams go hell for leather. The deadlock was broken immediately, as Yegor Yakovlev’s blast from the blue line flew above Riku Helenius’ glove. That only achieved into waking Jokerit up though, and Mathis Olimb evened things up with a neat backhander on the doorstep. That was slightly deflating, but SKA retook the lead within seconds. Moments after Pyotr Khokhryakov couldn’t connect at point blank range Evgeny Dadonov splayed the puck to the far post, and Anton Burdasov made no mistake blocker side. Our players were simply all over Jokerit, and the Finns couldn’t find a way out of their own zone. Several chances for a third came and went, and Anton almost got his second when speeding down to the crease. Nevertheless Jokerit are masters of conjuring goals out of nothing, and against the run of play they tied it again. A huge goalmouth scramble erupted, and Pekka Jormakka bundled it over the line. Again SKA had to start from scratch, but our players brushed that knock off like true professionals. Anton Burdasov wound up from the left faceoff circle, and powered the puck beyond the goaltender. Three then became four, as Ilya Kablukov banked the puck in off the glove when gobbling up a juicy rebound off the boards. Jokerit were praying for the second break, but their shambolic defence was punished for a fifth time. The puck was whipped across from the right boards, and Evgeny Dadonov beautifully tipped home.

Jokerit had to do something to calm the game down, and they opted to pull hapless goaltender Riku Helenius in favour of Henrik Karlsson. That appeared to make some difference, as the visitors did manage to take the tempo down slightly. Opportunities were still coming our way though, and Ilya Kovalchuk had an open one timer shut down to the right of the slot. The game did become a bit nervy however eight minutes in, as on a clever breakaway Brandon Kozun netted past Ilya Ezhov’s blocker from a tough angle. Andrei Nazarov took a prompt timeout as proceedings threatened to take a turn for the worse, and it worked out in our team’s favour. Jokerit gradually began to tire, and on the powerplay Evgeny Dadonov rounded things off after a wonderful combination play with Vadim Shipachyov. That is where the action came to a halt, and SKA win their second game in a row 6:3 against Jokerit in Saint Petersburg! The next game will take place on the 29^th of September against HC Dinamo Riga at home.

Match protocol:

SKA – Jokerit – 6:3 (0:0, 5:2, 1:1)

Goals:

1:0 Yakovlev (Burdasov, Shipachyov), 20.24

1:1 Olimb (Lajunen, Jormakka), 23.46

2:1 Burdasov (Dadonov), 26.20

2:2 Jormakka, 30.49

3:2 Burdasov (Shipachyov, Dadonov), 31.50

4:2 Kablukov (Ketov, Artyukhin), 39.09

5:2 Dadonov (Rukavishnikov, Burdasov), 39.59

5:3 Kozun (Joensuu), 48.53

6:3 Dadonov (Burdasov, Shipachyov), 57.21