SKA – Lokomotiv

SKA – Lokomotiv – 2:3

11 October 2023

SKA came up short in a tense battle against a thoroughly organised Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team at the Ice Palace, conceding a 2:3 loss in the 2023/2024 KHL regular season.

Lokomotiv were rewarded for a lively early start in the eighth minute.

At point-blank range, Ivan Chekhovich managed to bundle the puck over the line after SKA had lost numerous battles in their zone.

Towards the end of the first period, Lokomotiv thought that they had doubled their advantage when Artur Kayumov batted the puck in on the counter-attack. But, to our relief, the goal was disallowed as a consequence of high-sticking.

Lokomotiv were calmly bossing the play. In control of proceedings, the Yaroslavl-based outfit were regularly causing us major problems on the break-away, and our goaltender Nikita Serebryakov pulled off a handful of difficult saves while receiving little help in front of him.

The visitors did quickly tally their second at the start of the second period.

With our defence missing, Daniil Tesanov successfully completed a flowing break-away for the away side.

SKA did halve the deficit in the fourth minute of the stanza when Artyom Zemchyonok turned Alex Galchenyuk’s accurate pass into the right corner. However, to our dismay, Lokomotiv promptly went up the other end and grabbed their third, with Georgy Ivanov taking his time and beating Serebryakov when pulling to the doorstep.

That goal allowed Lokomotiv to firmly control the match. Playing with visible confidence, the opponents won nearly every duel for neutral pucks, consequently not allowing our team to create any clear openings in the Lokomotiv zone. The only chance we had in the period was when a deflected effort from the point was deflected against the crossbar.

Despite leading by two, Lokomotiv went on to edge the majority of the third period in terms of scoring opportunities.

Nevertheless, with 10 minutes left on the clock, Croatian debutant Borna Rendulic handed SKA a lifeline completely out of the blue.

When taking advantage of a misunderstanding in the Lokomotiv defence, the 31-year-old forward managed to expertly steer the puck into the left corner beyond the stranded Isayev.

Unfortunately, though, that turned out to be our final positive moment of the game. During the remainder of regulation time, Lokomotiv kept SKA at bay with superb defensive play, with the home players not even able to protect the puck inside the attacking zone.

Serebryakov was pulled for the extra skater for the final 90 seconds, but to no avail as Lokomotiv stood firm.

SKA will now prepare to host Dinamo Minsk in Saint Petersburg on Friday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Lokomotiv – 2:3 (0:1, 1:2, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Chekhovich (Kraskovsky), 07.47

0:2 Tesanov (Beryozkin, Yelesin), 21.01

1:2 Zemchyonok (Galchenyuk), 23.19

1:3 Ivanov (Alexeev, Yelesin), 24.00

2:3 Rendulic (Vorobyov), 49.56

Goalkeepers: Serebryakov – Isayev

Shots: 59 – 46