Murphy, Zavragin fire SKA to dramatic OT triumph!

19 September 2025

SKA displayed admirable composure against a strong Dinamo Minsk side at the Ice Palace in the 2025/2026 KHL regular season, recovering from an early two-goal deficit to eventually run out 3:2 OT winners.

Our players had their backs up against the wall in the opening stages, but they successfully weathered the storm – aided by wonderful goalkeeping from Yegor Zavragin – to steal it in overtime with Trevor Murphy netting on the powerplay.

Dinamo had initially been on the verge of ending the game as a contest within the first 96 (!) seconds.

Alex Limoges cleaned up the loose change on the powerplay, before Sergei Kuznetsov beat Zavragin when completely unmarked between the circles.

In truth, Minsk really should have put the match to bed in the maiden five minutes.

Vitaly Pinchuk wasted the best of a series of guilt-edged chances, somehow backhanding wide with the goal at his mercy after he had got the better of Zavragin with a neat move 1-on-1.

To their credit, though, SKA set about getting a foothold in the game, halving the deficit midway through the stanza.

Valentin Zykov gave our team a well-needed breath of fresh air, forcing the rebound in on the doorstep.

All of a sudden, the home team began applying pressure on Dinamo with energetic, intense play. Zykov twice came close to grabbing his second, while Matvei Polyakov was lively and Marat Khairullin regularly took aim.

Taking into account just how eventful the first period was, it was predictable that the action cooled down in the second.

Clear opportunities were a rare sight indeed. Mikhail Vorobyov had our only realistic chance when prodding against Zach Fucale on the slot, but Dinamo were largely keeping SKA at a safe distance without creating an awful lot themselves.

The third period continued in a similar manner.

It looked as though Minsk were going to professionally see it out. However, with around seven minutes left on the clock, SKA registered their craved equaliser in fortunate circumstances.

Brennan Menell was searching for an onrushing teammate on the crease, but Dinamo defenseman Darren Dietz inadvertently deflected the puck past his own goalkeeper.

Buoyed by a powerplay which they earned in the subsequent shift, Dinamo set about reinstating their advantage. Nevertheless, Zavragin simply refused to be beaten, as he made a number of highlight-reel saves when coming under severe pressure.

He was left powerless on one occasion, but Andrei Stas backhanded against the right post when collecting the bouncing puck.

Dinamo were duly made to pay for their profligacy.

Murphy secured a memorable triumph for us in the 62nd minute, whipping a firm wrister into the left corner on the powerplay after away defenseman Kristian Khenkel had committed interference in the dying seconds of regulation.

SKA will now prepare to face Lada in Tolyatti on Sunday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 16:00 Moscow time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Dinamo Minsk – 3:2 OT (1:2, 0:0, 1:0, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Limoges (Pinchuk, Kuznetsov), 01.05 PPG

0:2 Kuznetsov (Moroz, Shipachyov), 01.36

1:2 Zykov (Sapego, Khairullin), 10.58 PPG

2:2 Menell (Goldobin, Galenyuk), 52.36

3:2 Murphy (Khairullin, Vorobyov), 61.43 PPG

Goalkeepers: Zavragin – Fucale

Shots: 58 – 61

Shots on target: 26 – 36