Game one. SKA - Lokomotiv

Game one. SKA - Lokomotiv - 4:0

16 March 2018

Game one of the KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs second round series took place between SKA and HC Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in Saint Petersburg. Head coach Oleg Znarok put Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk and Nikita Gusev in the first line together, keeping Mikko Koskinen in net. Alexei Murygin was Lokomotiv's starting goaltender.

SKA made the perfect start inside the Ice Palace, scoring within the opening minutes. A wonderful Yegor Yakovlev pass found Vadim Shipachyov on the right faceoff circle, who lashed a one timer beyond a sprawling Alexei Murygin. Danil Yurtaykin could have equalised immediately for Lokomotiv, but he was denied by Mikko Koskinen when clean through. Towards the end of the period, Lokomotiv were made to pay for that miss. Cutting to the slot, Jarno Koskiranta beat Alexei Murygin with a wonderful move. 2:0 after 20 minutes.

In full control of proceedings and playing some scintillating ice hockey, SKA piled the pressure on Lokomotiv in the second period. Midway through the frame, the contest was practically put to bed. Alone at the blue line, Vyacheslav Voynov launched a huge one timer into the net on the powerplay. Vladislav Gavrikov then scored a fourth with a fantastic wrist shot, in turn ending Alexei Murygin's match as he was replaced by Alexander Sudnitsin.

The third period was littered with penalties, but our players continued to have the better chances. Pavel Datsyuk had a golden opportunity to score when gifted a penalty shot, however his effort was saved by an alert Alexander Sudnitsin. Nevertheless, SKA calmly saw the game out, helping Mikko Koskinen earn a shutout to defeat Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4:0!

Match protocol:

SKA - Lokomotiv - 4:0 (2:0, 2:0, 0:0)

Goals:

1:0 Shipachyov (Yakovlev), 00.49

2:0 Koskiranta (Shirokov), 17.30

3:0 Voynov (Karpov), 29.25

4:0 Gavrikov (Zub, Gusev), 33.54

Goalkeepers: Koskinen - Murygin/Sudnitsin

Shots on target: 28 - 27

Faceoffs: 30 - 33

Hits: 22 - 14

Penalty minutes: 12 - 16