SKA - Severstal

SKA - Severstal - 4:0

13 September 2016

Today on the 13^th of September, SKA hosted HC Severstal Cherepovets inside the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace. Interim head coach Pyotr Vorobyov kept the team the same, and Igor Shestyorkin was between SKA’s pipes. Roman Smiryagin made up his opposite number.

Unfortunately, the match begun with a horrible injury to SKA defenseman Dmitry Yudin. Following a heavy hit, Dmitry fell awkwardly into the boards, and he was helped off the ice clutching his knee. That episode seemed to affect our players, and we took two penalties to give Severstal a five on three. Thankfully, they couldn’t create much, and after that scare, we managed to score the first goal. Roman Smiryagin failed to hold on to a simple wrister, and Ilya Kovalchuk gobbled up the ensuing rebound. That goal was just what SKA needed, and before the period was out, we netted our second – at a tight angle, Roman Rukavishnikov lashed over the glove.

Those two goals knocked the stuffing out of Severstal, and SKA crashed their net in the second stanza. Severstal were having real difficulty in clearing their lines, and after Viktor Tikhonov missed when clean through, we did eventually get on the board again. On a delayed penalty Alexander Barabanov had space, and he clinically slotted into the gaping net.

Nevertheless, Severstal didn’t throw the towel in, and towards the end of the period, they made Igor Shestyorkin work. Daniil Vovchenko was their main threat, and he made a large contribution to their 14 shots on target during the frame.

At the start of the third, Yegor Yakovlev bashed his opponent over, and the referees chucked him out of the game. That five minute powerplay gave Severstal a chance to get back into proceedings, but fortunately, Igor Shestyorkin kept them at bay. That killed any intrigue, and with a man’s advantage of our own, we put the game to bed - Vyacheslav Voynov’s wrister deceived an unsighted Roman Smiryagin. Both teams slowed the tempo as time rolled on, and SKA comfortably saw the match out to seal a 4:0 win over Severstal!

Match protocol:

SKA – Severstal – 4:0 (2:0, 1:0, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Kovalchuk (Tikhonov, Plotnikov), 13.59

2:0 Rukavishnikov (Gusev), 17.38

3:0 Barabanov (Zubarev, Shirokov), 28.27

4:0 Voynov (Gusev, Plotnikov), 50.17

Goalkeepers: Shestyorkin – Smiryagin

Shots on target: 33 – 26

Penalty minutes: 33 – 12

Faceoffs: 28 – 28

Hits: 9 – 10