SKA – Torpedo

SKA – Torpedo – 4:3 SO

25 November 2023

In a highly eventful battle at the Ice Palace, SKA completed a pulsating three-goal comeback against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the 2023/2024 KHL regular season, claiming a memorable 4:3 triumph after a tense penalty shootout.

Torpedo certainly provided SKA with an unwanted cold shower.

To our dismay, the visitors scored with their maiden two shots on target. Skating clean through, Alexei Kruchinin went top-shelf on Johan Mattsson, before gifted 17-year-old defenseman Anton Silaev smashed an instant effort in following a faceoff draw. Our coaching staff took the decision to swap Mattsson in favour of Nikita Serebryakov after Torpedo’s second.

SKA did admittedly unleash 28 shots during the first period in comparison to the Torpedo’s eight, but away goaltender Ivan Kulbakov didn’t have to make any particularly challenging saves.

Our team required a boost of positive energy.

While SKA began to apply an increasing amount of pressure on the Torpedo defence at the start of the second stanza, clear-cut chances were few and far between.

Defenseman Grigory Gryaznov wasted our standout opportunity, thumping wide of the mark with Torpedo goaltender Ivan Kulbakov falling off balance.

Torpedo then struck a killer blow just as SKA were gaining momentum.

After Alexander Nikishin had been punished for a tripping foul, Bogdan Konyushkov got the better of Serebryakov with a powerful wrist shot from distance.

The game appeared done as a contest.

However, count SKA out at your peril.

A completely different SKA team turned up for what turned out to be an incredible third period.

Valentin Zykov provided the spark, tallying our first within 34 seconds of the restart when powering through 1-on-1.

The same player then halved the deficit five minutes later on the powerplay. Initially, Kulbakov did manage to deal with Alex Galchenyuk’s sharp wrister, but Zykov was on hand to pounce on the rebound and raise belief inside the stadium even further.

In stark comparison to the maiden two periods, Torpedo weren’t coping with SKA’s advances in the slightest. All at sea, the Nizhny Novgorod-based outfit were visibly panicking, unable to make rational decisions both with and without the puck.

SKA, on the other hand, were piling the pressure on the faltering opponents and creating a huge amount of golden opportunities.

Finally, with a little less than five minutes remaining, our deserved equaliser arrived on another powerplay.

A mere second after SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg had taken the brave decision to swap Serebryakov for the extra skater, Galchenyuk hammered an unstoppable one-timer in past Kulbakov glove-side.

To their credit, Torpedo managed to steady the tide after our third marker. In overtime, the away team did indeed have the better chances, but Serebryakov came to the rescue with a pair of brilliant saves. His best shut the door on Kruchinin with the Torpedo forward seemingly certain to score.

A penalty shootout was a fitting way to end such an enthralling duel. Fired up, Serebryakov thankfully continued his heroics for us, saving all four Torpedo attempts while Marat Khairullin and the impressive Zykov netted for SKA.

SKA will now prepare to host Dynamo Moscow in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Torpedo – 4:3 SO (0:2, 0:1, 3:0, 0:0 – 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Kruchinin, 01.12

0:2 Silaev (Letunov), 08.34

0:3 Konyushkov (Atanasov, Letunov), 34.37 PPG

1:3 Zykov (Bardakov), 40.34

2:3 Zykov (Galchenyuk), 45.21 PPG

3:3 Galchenyuk (Vorobyov, Nikishin), 55.30 PPG

4:3 Zykov, 65.00 SO

Goalkeepers: Mattsson/Serebryakov – Kulbakov