Game two. SKA - Severstal

Game two. SKA - Severstal - 7:4

5 March 2018

Game two of the 2017/2018 KHL Gagarin Cup first round series between SKA and HC Severstal Cherepovets took place in Saint Petersburg. Head coach Oleg Znarok made a number of changes to the line-up, notably bringing Andrei Zubarev and Maxim Karpov back into the squad. Mikko Koskinen and Julius Hudacek were the starting goaltenders.

Unfortunately, Severstal broke the deadlock within five minutes. Dmitry Kagarlitsky gathered possession, swung to the right faceoff circle, and lashed a low attempt beyond the stranded Mikko Koskinen. The visitors looked bright during the opening stages, but SKA soon got back on track. Moments after hitting the pipe, Pavel Dastyuk brilliantly backhanded into the net at point blank range. 1:1 after the first period.

Our players made a dominant start to the second period, scoring twice in quick succession. Nikita Gusev took advantage of a juicy rebound to give SKA a lead on the powerplay, before Viktor Tikhonov tipped Vyacheslav Voynov's slap shot beyond Julius Hudacek. However, out of the blue, Severstal came back into the match. Dmitry Kagarlitsky made it a one goal game, beating young defenseman Danila Galenyuk and shooting under Mikko Koskinen's blocker. Alexei Ugarov then equalised for the visitors, scoring when alone on the slot.

Nevertheless, SKA found an instant response. Alexander Barabanov scored his first of the 2017/2018 KHL playoffs, whipping a gorgeous wrister in from distance. Nikita Gusev grabbed his second before the period was out, smashing a fantastic Pavel Datsyuk pass into the gaping left corner.

In control of proceedings, SKA piled the pressure on a tiring Severstal team. Pavel Datsyuk netted his third of the first round series, displaying stunning skill and firing past the goaltender's glove. Ilya Kablukov notched a seventh goal with a powerful one timer, in turn sending Severstal goalkeeper Julius Hudacek to the bench in place of Alexei Artamkin. Matej Stransky did get one back for Severstal late on, but it mattered little as SKA won 7:4 to make it 2:0 in the series!

Match protocol:

SKA - Severstal - 7:4 (1:1, 4:2, 2:1)

Goals:

0:1 Kagarlitsky (Stasenko, Bumagin), 03.52

1:1 Datsyuk (Belov, Gusev), 15.06

2:1 Gusev (Hersley, Karpov), 23.45

3:1 Tikhonov (Thoresen, Voynov), 24.35

3:2 Kagarlitsky (Masuhr, Bumagin), 26.15

3:3 Ugarov (Karlin, Rybin), 29.41

4:3 Barabanov (Gavrikov, Kalinin), 31.36

5:3 Gusev (Karpov, Datsyuk), 33.31

6:3 Datsyuk, 47.23