SKA – CSKA

SKA – CSKA – 1:2

21 December 2022

Despite producing a strong attacking performance, SKA couldn’t get past CSKA Moscow at the Ice Palace in the 2022/2023 KHL regular season, conceding an avoidable 1:2 defeat.

Our players dominated the entirety of the opening stanza.

Throughout the period, SKA piled incessant pressure on CSKA. With the visitors struggling horribly in defence, our team created several huge opportunities to score, but Nikita Gusev and Alexander Volkov failed to hit the jackpot when in space on the crease. Volkov was especially wasteful, as he somehow fired the puck against the pipe instead of into the back of the net with the goal at his mercy on the powerplay.

CSKA only tested our goaltender Vladislav Podyapolsky twice in the first period.

The manner of proceedings didn’t change at the start of the second. Firmly on the front foot, SKA were creating chance after chance, as Gusev and Vladislav Tsitsyura were denied by in-form away goalkeeper Alexander Sharychenkov.

If you don’t score, the opponents will. And that’s exactly what happened in the 30^th minute.

After a sloppy mistake at neutral ice, familiar face Vladislav Kamenev beat Podyapolsky with CSKA having been gifted a 2-on-1 opportunity.

To their credit, CSKA did make a major improvement after their goal. At point-blank range, Podyapolsky kept SKA within one with a superb double stop, shutting the door on Kamenev and Pavel Karnaukhov when sprawled out on the ice. SKA’s only realistic chance in the remainder of the frame saw Dmitrij Jaskin wrist firmly into Sharychenkov’s glove on the counter-attack.

CSKA came incredibly close to their second at the start of the third period. Shorthanded, Andrei Svetlakov couldn’t knock the puck when clean through, before Alexander Nikishin deflected Sergei Plotnikov’s shot to safety after Podyapolsky had carelessly lost possession behind his own net.

SKA finally scored not long later.

Valentin Zykov took aim from a seemingly impossible angle, but Sharychenkov misjudged the play and allowed the puck to sneak between his pads.

Both teams were presented with promising chances during the rest of the period. Overtime was looming but, with a little over two minutes remaining, CSKA struck the decisive blow.

Swinging for a sharp wraparound, Karnaukhov managed to stuff the puck in with Podyapolsky slightly out of position.

SKA will now prepare to host Spartak Moscow in Saint Petersburg on Saturday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:00 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – CSKA – 1:2 (0:0, 0:1, 1:1)

Goals:

0:1 Kamenev (Karnaukhov), 29.24

1:1 Zykov (Pashnin), 44.10

1:2 Karnaukhov (Plotnikov, Sergeev), 57.48

Goalkeepers: Podyapolsky – Sharychenkov

Shots: 64 – 50

Shots on target: 34 – 20

Faceoffs: 27 – 35