SKA - Ugra

SKA - Ugra - 9:4

23 September 2016

Having played against each other just two days ago, SKA and HC Ugra Khanty-Mansiysk did battle again in Saint Petersburg. Interim head coach Pyotr Vorobyov handed forward Svyatoslav Grebenshchikov his season debut, while Nikita Tochitsky replaced Steve Moses in the fourth line. Igor Shestyorkin and Vladislav Fokin were the match’s starting goaltenders.

Little did Vladislav Fokin know that he was in for a horror show. Ilya Kovalchuk thumped home a one timer in the opening shift, and with the home fans behind them, SKA’s players were full of adrenaline. On a powerplay, Alexander Barabanov made it two as his shot took a cunning deflection off a Ugra defenseman, and not long later, our number 94 netted the third after the goalkeeper had clumsily coughed up the puck. Ugra predictably pulled Vladislav Fokin for Alexander Sharychenkov, but it didn’t make much difference – with another Ugra player in the box, Ilya Kovalchuk’s fantastic pass was tapped home by Sergei Plotnikov. Our players were looking like scoring every time they came forward, however on a rare counterattack, Ugra did get one back – clean through, Konstantin Panov backhanded over the glove.

Nevertheless, despite that Ugra goal, the one-way traffic continued in the second period. Ilya Kovalchuk, who scored in the opening minute of the first, repeated the trick – his long range blast gave the goaltender no chance. The forlorn visitors had lost all hope, and SKA weren’t in the mood for showing mercy. Sergei Shirokov scored two identical goals of his own on the crease, and Ugra were lucky that they got to the break only losing by six.

If things were already mad, they were about to become totally crazy. Despite knowing that the game was up, Ugra suddenly began to play, and they ruined Igor Shestyorkin’s day. Alexander Ugolnikov, Oleg Pogorishny and Nikita Khlystov all scored excellent goals to make the score more respectable, and the visitors put on a much improved displayed in the third period.

SKA weren’t to be denied though. Nikita Tochitsky netted his first club goal with the backhand, and as the minutes ran down, Nikita Gusev scored the ninth to compete the party!

Match protocol:

SKA – Ugra – 9:4 (4:1, 3:0, 2:3)

Goals:

1:0 Kovalchuk (Voynov, Plotnikov), 00.30

2:0 Barabanov (Belov, Gusev), 04.15

3:0 Barabanov (Koskiranta, Gusev), 06.48

4:0 Plotnikov (Voynov, Kovalchuk), 11.44

4:1 Panov (Bortnikov), 19.44

5:1 Kovalchuk (Voynov, Plotnikov), 23.10

6:1 Shirokov (Khafizullin, Khokhlachyov), 28.18

7:1 Shirokov (Khokhlachyov, Belov), 38.12

7:2 Ugolnikov (Seleznyov, Lapenkov), 43.55