SKA – Sibir – 1:2

In a gritty battle, SKA couldn’t find that elusive equaliser against Sibir Novosibirsk at the Ice Palace in the 2023/2024 KHL regular season, suffering a slender 1:2 loss.

SKA initially started with energy and intent.

However, after Nikita Shashkov had been denied by Sergei Ivanov when skating 1-on-1 shorthanded, Sibir did open the scoring with a similar opportunity in the fourth minute.

Powering towards the net on the right flank, Taylor Beck whipped a firm wrister high into the far corner.

Matters went from bad to worse for an out-of-sorts SKA side.

When competing on a 5-on-3 powerplay after Brendan Leipsic and head coach Roman Rotenberg had both been penalised for unsportsmanlike conduct, Beck doubled the Sibir advantage, getting the better of Ivanov with another firm wrist shot.

Backed into a corner and facing an unprecedented fifth successive defeat, SKA conjured up a response in the second stanza.

Our maiden goal finally arrived with a little less than five minutes remaining in the frame. On the doorstep, Valentin Zykov managed to bundle the puck past impressive Novosibirsk goalkeeper Anton Krasotkin.

Seconds later, Leipsic really should have immediately tallied our second, but he failed to lift his attempt over Krasotkin’s glove when completely unmarked to the right of the slot.

Predictably, SKA threw everything bar the kitchen sink at Sibir in the third period.

Incredibly, our players managed to unleash 41 shots during the concluding stanza alone, with 15 of them landing on target. Nonetheless, despite the incessant pressure, defence-wise Sibir improved greatly as the period progressed, protecting Krasotkin effectively.

With over two minutes remaining, Ivanov was pulled in favour of the extra skater, but Sibir bravely held on.

SKA will now prepare to host Severstal Cherepovets in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Sibir – 1:2 (0:2, 1:0, 0:0)

Goals:

0:1 Beck, 03.56

0:2 Beck (Alanov), 19.29 PPG

1:2 Zykov, 35.24

Goalkeepers: Ivanov – Krasotkin

Shots: 97 – 42

Shots on target: 44 – 20

Faceoffs: 24 – 34

Blocked shots: 8 – 29

Hits: 11 – 10

Penalty minutes: 12 – 14

Referees: Mochalov, Ovchinnikov

Linesmen: Golovlyov, Savenkov

17.09.2023. Ice Palace, Saint Petersburg.