SKA - Lada

SKA - Lada - 5:1

2 September 2016

SKA’s fourth home game of the 2016/2017 KHL regular season took place today against HC Lada Tolyatti. Despite being pulled on Tuesday, goaltender Igor Shestyorkin was kept in net, and minimal changes were made to the line-up. Ex SKA figure Ilya Ezhov stood between Lada’s pipes.

After losing to Ak Bars, our players were hungry to make amends, and Lada were put on the back foot. All of the action was coming in one zone, and after a handful of early chances, SKA made the breakthrough. Lada went missing at the back, and Anton Belov firmly planted his wrister into the top left corner. Confidence was coursing through our players, and minutes later, we made it two. Alexander Barabanov hung behind the net, brilliantly swung to the slot, and backhanded beyond Ilya Ezhov. All of the momentum was with SKA, but out of the blue, Lada made use of a powerplay. Ilya Kablukov was punished for tripping, and he could only watch as Alexei Volgin tapped home on a goalmouth scramble. All of a sudden, Lada had something to build on, and we had Igor Shestyorkin to thank after he made a top save against a clean through Mikael Johansson.

We needed something to take back the initiative, and a quick second period goal was just the tonic. Evgeny Dadonov was give plenty of space at the blue line, and a key deflection off a Lada skate fooled Ilya Ezhov. The visitors appeared deflated, and for the rest of the stanza, there was only one team on the ice. Lada were barely threatening, and only some superb Ilya Ezhov saves stopped them from being rolled over. SKA were creating chances at will, and there was a feeling that our team could up the intensity at any given moment.

Lada had it all to do, and they never looked like making SKA nervy. Our team were in cruise control, and a fourth goal put the game to bed. Vadim Shipachyov protected possession, teed up Nikita Gusev, and his low shot snuck between the pads. SKA were finding chances at will, and later on, Alexander Barabanov potted his second. Away defensemen couldn’t find the puck, and the in-form number 94 batted it past the helpless netminder. Towards the end of the match, Igor Shestyorkin was called into sharp action as Lada searched for a consolation, but SKA managed to hold on to take a well deserved 5:1 victory over HC Lada Tolyatti!

Match protocol:

SKA – Lada – 5:1 (2:1, 1:0, 2:0)

Goals:

1:0 Belov (Chudinov, Shipachyov), 06.50

2:0 Barabanov (Shirokov, Prokhorkin), 10.29

2:1 Volgin (Belousov), 15.11

3:1 Dadonov (Gusev, Chudinov), 21.25

4:1 Gusev (Chudinov, Dadonov), 44.23

5:1 Barabanov (Prokhorkin, Shirokov), 56.14

Goalkeepers: Shestyorkin – Ezhov

Shots on target: 43 – 22

Penalty minutes: 8 – 6