Game one. SKA – Spartak

Game one. SKA – Spartak – 1:6

18 March 2022

In the first match of the second round of the 2021/2022 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs, SKA endured a nightmare against Spartak Moscow, conceding a heavy 1:6 defeat at the Ice Palace.

The first period really couldn’t have gone any worse for SKA.

Our shell-shocked players became the victims of an unexpected onslaught. Having not played any competitive ice hockey in two months, many predicted that Spartak would struggle at the start of this series, but in reality it was the complete opposite as the fired-up Muscovites laid siege to the SKA goal.

Yegor Savikov opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a deflected wrister from distance which caught Lars Johansson cold. Shorthanded, Ivan Drozdov then doubled Spartak’s money, cleverly stealing the puck and expertly beating Lars when clean through.

Matters went from bad to worse for SKA in the concluding minute of the frame, as Andrei Loktionov’s pass across the slot from a tight angle on the right flank deflected off Mat Robinson’s skate and beyond Johansson. In truth, had it not been for a few excellent saves from Johansson in the period, Spartak could have held a bigger advantage than their three-goal lead.

Predictably, the SKA coaching staff opted to swap Johansson for Alexander Samonov in net for the second stanza in a bid to change the flow of the match.

That decision looked to have had the desired effect. With seven minutes having been played in the period, Stepan Falkovsky got the hosts on the board with a well-needed marker, thumping a fierce effort under Spartak goaltender Oscar Dansk after receiving a pinpoint pass from Anton Burdasov.

However, Spartak reinstated their three-goal advantage a matter of 40 seconds later.

On a delayed penalty, Alexander Khokhlachyov decided to take a wrist shot from the left, and Samonov was left helpless as a consequence of a sharp ricochet.

Spartak continued competing with the initiative for the remainder of the stanza. Playing with confidence and intensity, the Moscow-based outfit applied large pressure on SKA, regularly pulling our defence apart and wasting promising scoring opportunities.

The third period saw Spartak calmly control the match, not allowing our team to create major chances in their zone.

In the dying minutes of the stanza, SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg made the call to swap Samonov in favour of the extra skater twice, but that only resulted in Sergei Shirokov and Alexander Nikishin hitting the empty net respectively to secure an emphatic win for Spartak.

Game two of the series is scheduled to take place in Saint Petersburg on Sunday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:00 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Spartak – 1:6 (0:3, 1:1, 0:2)

Goals:

0:1 Savikov, 05.17

0:2 Drozdov, 16.20 SHG

0:3 Loktionov (Pettersson, Drozdov), 19.12

1:3 Falkovsky (Burdasov, Kuzmenko), 27.26

1:4 Khokhlachyov (Tsyplakov), 28.06

1:5 Shirokov (Khokhlachyov), 57.26 ENG

1:6 Nikishin, 59.59

Goalkeepers: Johansson – Dansk