SKA - Severstal

SKA - Severstal - 6:1

29 January 2016

After playing Dinamo Minsk away in Belarus, SKA returned home to Saint Petersburg to play HC Severstal Cherepovets. Head coach Sergei Zubov made a few changes to the line-up for this match, with Mikko Koskinen replacing Igor Shestyorkin in net and Yegor Rykov returning to the fourth line. Sergei Magarilov was in Severstal’s net, with ex SKA player Sergei Monakhov included in their squad.

Our team were fully up for this one following three defeats on the bounce, and made a positive start inside the Ice Palace. Ilya Kovalchuk was having shooting opportunities all over the ice, and he launched two thunderous slappers wide of the target. Severstal were struggling to withstand our pressure, however totally against the run of play they were the first to strike. Anatoly Nikontsev powered away on the counterattack, and whipped over Mikko Koskinen’s glove. Nevertheless that didn’t knock SKA off their stride, and it took the players a mere 45 seconds to reply. On a delayed Severstal penalty Vadim Shipachyov was set up on the right, and he calmly slotted into the near corner. That goal rocked Severstal, and the rest of the period belonged to SKA. The pressing was incessant, and Sergei Magarilov was unable to prevent our team from pulling away. Steve Moses handed us the lead scrambling the puck over the line off balance on the doorstep, and on another powerplay Evgeny Dadonov made no mistake up close. Severstal’s net was being peppered from all angles, and it could have been more. Nikita Gusev failed to hit the gaping left corner, and Anton Belov could only find the right pad when one on one.

SKA were in full control moving into the second frame, and were creating chance after chance inside Severstal’s zone. Nevertheless Severstal were showing more character after pulling netminder Sergei Magarilov for backup Stepan Goryachevskikh, and on a powerplay of their own they should really have got one back. Ondrej Nemec was left alone on the right wing, wristed with power, and Mikko Koskinen was relieved to see it cannon back off the near post. That gave our team a needed warning, and we practically sealed the game with a fourth marker. Pavel Buchnevich twisted sharply to the middle of the zone, and thrashed a pacy wrister beyond the blocker for his first SKA goal. Severstal completely lost their discipline as their frustration began to tell, and our captain got in on the act. Sergei Shirokov sped down the right, squared for Ilya Kovalchuk, and the latter whacked emphatically into the net. The Ice Palace was bouncing, and a pulsating period was capped off with a dramatic Vyacheslav Voynov – Kirill Sviyazov fight.

Not much changed in the third, as it was one way traffic. Severstal looked a beaten side, and Dmitry Yudin came close to a sixth with a lashed slapper from the blue line. The visitors kept on taking penalties as time ran down, and they were dealt a final killer blow by our number 88. With a man’s advantage Ex Severstal man Pavel Buchnevich took up the play out wide on the right, and squeezed it into the near corner. More opportunities came and went, however that was to be it for the scoring today. 6:1, and SKA take a vital victory over HC Severstal Cherepovets!

Match protocol:

SKA – Severstal – 6:1 (3:1, 2:0, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Nikontsev (Trunyov, Berdnikov), 08.00

1:1 Shipachyov (Kovalchuk, Koskiranta), 08.45

2:1 Moses (Shirokov), 14.33

3:1 Dadonov (Kovalchuk, Gusev), 16.21

4:1 Buchnevich (Belov, Gusev), 31.05

5:1 Kovalchuk (Koskiranta, Shirokov), 36.03

6:1 Buchnevich (Gusev, Dadonov), 48.48

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Magarilov/Goryachevskikh

Shots on target: 32 – 18