SKA – Lokomotiv

SKA – Lokomotiv – 3:0

29 January 2024

SKA opened up a two-point gap at the top of the Western Conference in the 2023/2024 KHL regular season, battling to a key 3:0 triumph over Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the final match to be staged at the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace.

The opening frame came and went without anything of note occurring.

Two penalties taken by the two teams were the highlight of the stanza. On the powerplay, Mikhail Vorobyov probably should have done better when presented with a glorious opportunity, but he blasted wide of the mark with the net gaping.

Admittedly they didn’t provide much of a goal threat, but Lokomotiv were calmly dictating the pace of proceedings. Alone between the circles, Stepan Nikulin had their best chance during the early stages, whacking his effort over the crossbar.

The flow of the game didn’t change in the second period.

SKA made the breakthrough on the counter-attack in the 23^rd minute, with Valentin Zykov thumping the rebound over away goalkeeper Daniil Isayev after the initial shot had been kicked out with the pads.

However, despite the go-ahead marker, SKA continued to play with the handbrake on. On the other hand, Lokomotiv were firmly on the front foot, preventing our players from exiting their own zone thanks to slick passing and movement.

Nikita Serebryakov made a handful of important saves, none more so than when Daniil Tesanov appeared certain to score on the doorstep – a chance which Lokomotiv had created a matter of moments before Zykov broke the deadlock.

Georgy Ivanov was subsequently guilty of missing a fantastic chance for the Yaroslavl-based organisation, smacking the upright with the net begging to be hit.

SKA punished Lokomotiv for their profligacy with a second in the 36^th minute. Having escaped the attention of the away defence next to the left post, Alexander Nikishin collected the loose puck before carefully turning it over the line with the backhand.

Our second marker turned out to be the decisive moment.

Although they huffed and puffed throughout the third period, Lokomotiv never looked like blowing the house down. Organised in defence, SKA calmly kept the toothless visitors at bay, with Serebryakov rarely being tested as he coasted to his fourth shutout since joining our club. His toughest save of the frame came against Martin Gernat’s stinging slap shot from distance which flew through traffic.

Lokomotiv pulled Isayev for the extra skater in the closing three minutes, but that only resulted in Nikishin expertly hit the empty net from his own zone.

SKA will now prepare to compete against CSKA in Moscow on Friday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Lokomotiv – 3:0 (0:0, 2:0, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Zykov (Nikishin, Khairullin), 22.47

2:0 Nikishin (Galchenyuk, Zemchyonok), 35.39

3:0 Nikishin (Zemchyonok), 59.32 EN

Goalkeepers: Serebryakov – Isayev

Shots: 58 – 52

Shots on target: 30 – 28

Faceoffs: 26 – 16

Blocked shots: 12 – 15