SKA - Slovan

SKA - Slovan - 7:1

23 August 2017

In Saint Petersburg, SKA took on HC Slovan Bratislava for the second KHL match of the 2017/2018 season. Head coach Oleg Znarok made one major change to the line-up, putting Swedish defenseman David Rundblad into the first line. Mikko Koskinen and Marek Mazanec were the starting goaltenders.

Despite coming off the back of a fantastic 4:2 victory against CSKA, SKA made a slow start at the Ice Palace. Our players were struggling to spend a large amount of time inside Slovan’s zone, but the visitors were proving to be dangerous on the counterattack. Unfortunately, with the period drawing to a close, the Slovakians struck. Yegor Rykov poorly lost possession, Marek Viedensky gobbled up the puck and lashed a fierce effort over Mikko Koskinen’s blocker. Sergei Kalinin could have immediately tied the game up, however he fired into the netminder’s glove on the doorstep.

Fortunately, SKA improved in the second stanza. Nikolai Prokhorkin made it 1:1, pulling to the crease before backhanding under Marek Mazanec’s left arm. Buoyed by that goal, our players began to turn up the heat on their Slovakian visitors. Slovan were trying their best to hold firm, but midway through the period, they contrived to concede a second goal. Pavel Datsyuk was the scorer, deftly tipping an Artyom Zub slap shot beyond the netminder. Fellow forward Ilya Kovalchuk then increased SKA’s advantage to 3:1, launching a powerful one timer into the net after Slovan had taken a penalty.

In complete control of the game, SKA pulled away in the third period. Sergei Shirokov practically ended all Slovan hopes of a dramatic comeback, deflecting Anton Belov’s shot on target. The Slovakians lost heart after the marker, allowing SKA to easily see the match through. Ilya Kovalchuk netted with a trademark slapper, and Nikita Gusev scored twice in the final minutes with the first coming on a powerplay. 7:1, SKA thrash Slovan Bratislava at the Ice Palace!

Match protocol:

SKA – Slovan – 7:1 (0:1, 3:0, 4:0)

Goals:

0:1 Viedensky, 16.48

1:1 Prokhorkin (Shirokov), 24.44

2:1 Datsyuk (Zub, Plotnikov), 29.16

3:1 Kovalchuk (Hersley, Datsyuk), 36.06

4:1 Shirokov (Belov, Rykov), 46.31

5:1 Kovalchuk (Datsyuk), 52.28

6:1 Gusev (Hersley, Datsyuk), 57.50

7:1 Gusev, 58.58

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Mazanec