SKA - Lokomotiv - 1:0

SKA hosted HC Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in Saint Petersburg for the second KHL home match of 2018. Head coach Oleg Znarok put Sergei Kalinin and Andrei Zubarev back into the line-up, keeping Igor Shestyorkin between the pipes. Alexander Sudnitsin was Lokomotiv’s staring goaltender.

Our players made a positive start inside the Ice Palace, forcing Alexander Sudnitsin into a couple of excellent saves. Patrick Thoresen came the closest, failing to hit the jackpot when lurking on the doorstep. However, out of the blue, Lokomotiv slowly took full control of proceedings. The visitors dominated the first frame, outshooting SKA 9-7 and spending almost the entire frame in our zone. Ilya Lyubushkin almost opened the scoring, launching a wrister against the pipe with Igor Shestyorkin beaten.

Fortunately, SKA increased the intensity in the second stanza. Our players started to gradually take the initiative in the match, creating decent shooting lanes inside Lokomotiv’s zone. Eventually, midway through the period, the breakthrough was made. On the powerplay, Patrik Hersley launched a trademark bullet under Alexander Sudnitsin’s flailing blocker. Igor Shestyorkin kept SKA ahead late on in the frame, denying Lokomotiv at point blank range.

The defensive nature of the match continued in the third period. Both teams completely cancelled each other out, making for an extremely tense affair. Patrik Hersley wasn’t far away from scoring a second though, whacking a massive one timer against the bar. Lokomotiv pulled the goaltender in the final moments, but thanks to some tough Igor Shestyorkin saves, SKA hung on to defeat HC Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1:0!

Match protocol:

SKA – Lokomotiv – 1:0 (0:0, 1:0, 0:0)

Goals:

1:0 Hersley (Gusev, Shipachyov), 31.52

Goalkeepers: Shestyorkin – Sudnitsin

Shots on target: 30 – 20

Faceoffs: 33 – 27

Hits: 30 – 16

Penalty minutes:

Referees: Belyaev, Ravodin

11.01.2018. Ice Palace, Saint Petersburg.