Game five. SKA - Lokomotiv

Game five. SKA - Lokomotiv - 3:1

22 March 2018

In Saint Petersburg, SKA hosted HC Lokomotiv Yaroslavl for game five of the KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs second round leading 3:1 in the series. Head coach Oleg Znarok made one change, inserting defenseman Anton Belov into the line-up instead of Patrik Hersley. Mikko Koskinen and Alexander Sudnitsin were the starting goaltenders.

Our players made a fanatstic start to the match, outshooting Lokomotiv 19-2 in the first period. Nevertheless, despite all of the pressure, SKA only managed to score the one goal when Ilya Kovalchuk's deflected attempt trickled over the line. Away goalkeeper Alexander Sudnitsin was single handedly keeping the visitors in the match, pulling off a number of excellent saves between the pipes.

Having weathered the storm, Lokomotiv equalised early in the second frame. Ivan Lekomtsev found a shooting lane in SKA's zone, thumping a powerful wrister under Mikko Koskinen's glove. Yegor Korshkov should have given Lokomotiv the lead moments later, but he failed to slide the puck into the gaping net after beating the goalkeeper with a clever move. SKA were beginning to struggle, but our team grabbed a second goal at a crucial time in the game. The puck dropped to Vadim Shipachyov at the high slot, who ripped a one timer beyond Alexander Sudnitsin. 2:1 after 40 minutes.

The game was virtually killed as a contest three minutes into the third frame. Evgeny Ketov robbed a Lokomotiv defenseman of the puck, picked out Ilya Kablukov, and the latter gave the goalkeeper no chance. Despite late pressing, Lokomotiv rarely troubled Mikko Koskinen, as SKA comfortably saw out proceedings to claim a 3:1 win against Lokomotiv and win the KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs second round series!

Match protocol:

SKA - Lokomotiv - 3:1 (1:0, 1:1, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Kovalchuk (Voynov, Shipachyov), 13.41

1:1 Lekomtsev (Apalkov, Korshkov), 21.40

2:1 Shipachyov (Zub, Kovalchuk), 28.59

3:1 Kablukov (Ketov), 42.15

Goalkeepers: Koskinen - Sudnitsin

Shots on target: 33 - 17

Faceoffs: 45 - 21

Hits: 15 - 22

Penalty minutes: 4 - 10