SKA - Kunlun Red Star - 3:0

SKA and HC Kunlun Red Star played their first KHL match against each other in Saint Petersburg. Coming off the back of a 3:2 win over Admiral, head coach Oleg Znarok kept the team largely the same. Igor Shestyorkin and fellow young Russian goalkeeper Andrei Makarov were the game’s starting netminders.

Directly from the off, Kunlun looked to make their presence felt inside the Ice Palace. During the first period alone, they recorded up an impressive eleven hits, largely preventing SKA from creating much. They were also dangerous moving forward, forcing Igor Shestyorkin into a few tricky saves – Max Warm had their best opportunity, firing into the goalkeeper’s chest when alone on the right wing. Nevertheless, SKA’s players slowly grew into the game and eventually made the breakthrough – a clever pass to the crease was taken advantage of by Sergei Shirokov.

Our team continued playing with the initiative in the second stanza, pressing Kunlun in their own zone. Trying to fend off SKA’s offenses, Kunlun were beginning to struggle and we punished them with a second goal – Nikita Gusev slotted home after a hopeful Dinar Khafizullin clearance bounced off the boards. Not much was going Kunlun’s way, and had we been more clinical in front of goal, the score could have been a lot larger.

After letting a two goal lead slip against Admiral, we were hungry for a vital third goal, throwing bodies into attack at any opportunity. Fortunately, unlike on Tuesday, the team found the deciding marker – Vadim Shipachyov reacted quickest to slide the loose puck over the goalkeeper’s blocker. Knowing the game was up, Kunlun rarely made a jaunt into the opposing zone, and matters gradually petered out. 3:0 today against Kunlun, SKA make it five victories on the spin!

Match protocol:

SKA – Kunlun Red Star – 3:0 (1:0, 1:0, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Shirokov (Belov, Yakovlev), 14.33

2:0 Gusev (Khafizullin), 25.23

3:0 Shipachyov (Chudinov, Khafizullin), 47.46

Goalkeepers: Shestyorkin – Makarov

Shots on target: 27 – 19

Penalty minutes: 4 – 8

Faceoffs: 30 – 23

Hits: 9 – 18

Referees: Belyaev, Kulyov

29.09.2016. Ice Palace, Saint Petersburg.