SKA - Metallurg Magnitogorsk

SKA - Metallurg Magnitogorsk - 1:4

7 October 2020

At the Ice Palace, a lethargic SKA were found wanting against Metallurg Magnitogorsk, conceded a 1:4 defeat in the 2020/2021 KHL regular season.

As expected, it was a tight, tense first period, with the teams largely matching each other throughout. Due to two SKA penalties, Metallurg did have a couple of powerplay opportunities, with the visitors testing Mikhail Berdin on a number of occasions with efforts from distance. Towards the end of the frame, Taylor Beck looked sure to score when pouncing on a juicy rebound, however the Metallurg forward contrived to hit the frame of the goal instead of the net.

At the other end, SKA were largely remaining on counter-attack chances, with Vladimir Tkachyov notably striking the right post when receiving a low pass from Yakov Trenin and the clean-through Dmitry Zavgorodniy failing to force the puck under Juho Olkinuora.

SKA did break the deadlock at the start of the second stanza, though.

Receiving the puck on the crease, Joonas Kemppainen gave Olkinuora no chance, whipping an instant wrister under the Finnish goalkeeper.

However, Metallurg conjured up an instant response, as Juho Lammikko lashed the puck beyond Berdin on the counter. Furthermore, it soon got worse for SKA, as our former defenseman Yegor Yakovlev gave his new team the advantage with a powerful wrist shot from the blue line.

In truth, SKA struggled to create clear-cut chances in the Metallurg zone in the second period, and we were lucky to see Mikhail Pashnin somehow poke the puck wide of the open net with Berdin already out of the picture.

Our players passed up a glorious opportunity to draw level in the first knockings of the third period. Completely unmarked on the left wing, Ivan Morozov smashed the near post with a one timer, with Olkinuora already beaten.

Nevertheless, despite that miss, Metallurg were in fact the dominant team in the concluding frame. Calmly controlling play, the Magnitogorsk-based outfit bossed proceedings against a tiring SKA, protecting possession effectively. Unfortunately for SKA, the opponents made their superiority count midway through the period, as Yegor Korobkin lashed the puck into the net from the doorstep.

In the final minutes, SKA pulled Berdin for the extra skater, but that only resulted in another conceded goal as 2016/2017 Gagarin Cup champion Sergei Plotnikov fired into the empty net.

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

Match protocol:

SKA - Metallurg Magnitogorsk - 1:4 (0:0, 1:2, 0:2)

Goals:

1:0 Kemppainen, 20.28

1:1 Lammikko (Pesonen, Chibisov), 21.20

1:2 Yakovlev (Chibisov), 28.42

1:3 Korobkin (Shvyryov), 50.59

1:4 Plotnikov (Karpov), 58.26

Goalkeepers: Berdin - Olkinuora

Shots on target: 35 - 27

Faceoffs: 25 - 31