SKA - Traktor

SKA - Traktor - 5:0

17 September 2017

SKA took on HC Traktor Chelyabinsk in Saint Petersburg aiming for a 12th consecutive KHL victory. Head coach Oleg Znarok brought Anton Belov and Roman Rukavishnikov back into the line-up, while Andrei Zubarev missed the game because of suspension. Igor Shestyorkin and Vasily Demchenko were the starting goaltenders.

Full of confidence, our players made another strong start at the Ice Palace. Ilya Kovalchuk opened the scoring in the 14th minute, smashing in a one timer on the powerplay after a stunning Nikita Gusev pass. Dominating on the ice, SKA pinned Traktor's players deep inside their own zone. The visitors were proving to be dangerous on the odd counterattack, but Igor Shestyorkin did well to deny both Alexei Kruchinin and Artyom Penkovsky at point blank range.

A forlorn Traktor Chelyabinsk side was completely blown away in a fantastic second stanza. Evgeny Ketov doubled SKA's advantage with a beautiful backhanded shot over the goalkeeper, before Nikolai Prokhorkin netted a birthday goal clean through. Viktor Tikhonov then tipped Yegor Rykov's effort into the net, a goal which resulted in Traktor pulling the disgruntled Vasily Demchenko for Pavel Francouz. At the other end, Igor Shestyorkin was virtually a spectator, as he saved only five shots in the period.

With the game done and dusted, SKA could continue searching for more goals in the third frame. To the Ice Palace's delight, Patrik Hersley thumped home a powerful slap shot on the man's advantage to increase SKA's lead to 5:0. The lively Mikhail Maltsev had plenty of opportunities to net his first SKA marker, however Pavel Francouz wasn't feeling in a generous mood. Igor Shestyorkin calmly kept his shutout intact though, seeing SKA through to an emphatic 5:0 win against Traktor!

Match protocol:

SKA - Traktor - 5:0 (1:0, 3:0, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Kovalchuk (Gusev, Datsyuk), 13.04

2:0 Ketov (Kablukov), 23.50

3:0 Prokhorkin (Rundblad, Gusev), 26.35

4:0 Tikhonov (Rukavishnikov, Rykov), 27.13

5:0 Hersley (Gusev, Datsyuk), 47.11

Goalkeepers: Shestyorkin - Demchenko/Francouz

Shots on target: 54 - 20

Penalty minutes: 8 - 6

Faceoffs: 32 - 27