SKA - Metallurg Magnitogorsk

SKA - Metallurg Magnitogorsk - 4:2

27 August 2016

SKA’s second home match of the 2016/2017 KHL regular season took place today against HC Metallurg Magnitogorsk. No major changes were made to the line-up by head coach Oleg Znarok, with only Ilya Kablukov replacing Viktor Tikhonov in the fourth line. Mikko Koskinen and Vasily Koshechkin were the game’s two starting goalkeepers.

The Ice Palace was in high spirits for this meeting against the KHL’s reigning champions, however during the first few minutes, SKA’s players look nervous. Metallurg came flying out of the blocks, and they made several dangerous plays deep in our zone. Nevertheless, as time rolled on, our team grew into the game, and they had a few promising openings on Metallurg’s crease. Anton Belov came the closest with a hammer shot, but just as we were gaining some control, we conceded. Sergei Plotnikov committed a tripping foul, and Jan Kovar batted the loose puck over the line to give the visitors a first period lead.

After that flat opening frame, SKA had to change something, and immediately the players began to put the pressure on. Metallurg were struggling to get out of their own zone, and after a few near misses, we finally scored. Anton Belov wristed through traffic, and he struck gold. The Ice Palace’s noise level was rising, however just like in the first stanza, we allowed the visitors to score when having a grip on the match. We failed to clear the puck on the slot, and the deadly Sergei Mozyakin made SKA pay. SKA had no other choice than to pile bodies forward, and after Metallurg took two penalties in a row, we should really have equalized. Vadim Shipachyov had a seemingly open net to aim at, and somehow Vasily Koshechkin got across to keep out the puck with the glove.

We had it all to do in the third, and we netted a vital game tying goal early on. Alexander Barabanov charged down the right flank, backhanded, and Vasily Koshechkin was caught unawares. All of a sudden, the momentum switched to SKA, and with the stadium roaring the team on, we took the match by the scruff of the neck. Evgeny Dadonov split the Metallurg defence, had only the goalkeeper to beat, and he delicately slid the puck through the legs. We were riding on the crest of a wave, and the deciding fourth goal came minutes later. Alexander Barabanov muscled his way to the doorstep, and he poked the puck in for his second goal. In the closing stages, Mikko Koskinen made some stunning point blank range saves as we got in some penalty trouble, and his solid work in net saw SKA through to take an amazing 4:2 win against HC Metallurg Magnitogorsk at home!

Match protocol:

SKA – Metallurg Magnitogorsk – 4:2 (0:1, 1:2, 3:0)

Goals:

0:1 Kovar (Mozyakin, Lee), 14.42

1:1 Belov (Yakovlev, Prokhorkin), 24.35

1:2 Mozyakin (Zaripov), 26.22

2:2 Barabanov (Koskinen, Chudinov), 44.05

3:2 Dadonov (Shipachyov, Voynov), 47.04

4:2 Barabanov (Shirokov, Voynov), 52.45

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Koshechkin

Shots on target: 32 - 24

Penalty minutes: 12 - 10