SKA - CSKA

SKA - CSKA - 2:3

25 January 2016

SKA hosted HC CSKA Moscow inside the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace for the first match after the 2016 KHL All-Star Game. Head coach Sergei Zubov kept Mikko Koskinen in net for this one, while Joakim Lindstrom made a return to the second line with Jarno Koskiranta and Steve Moses. Andrei Kuteikin and Anton Belov made up the fourth along with Alexander Dergachyov, and Ilya Sorokin was between CSKA’s pipes.

Our players were the quickest out of the blocks for this match, and crashed CSKA’s net during the opening stages. Seconds in a Dmitry Kalinin hammer created mayhem on CSKA’s crease, and Ilya Kovalchuk came seriously close with the ensuing rebound. SKA were bossing proceedings, and Evgeny Dadonov was the next to have a huge chance – taking up a long feed Evgeny piled forward one on one, however he failed to squeeze it beyond Ilya Sorokin’s right pad. The pressure kept on coming, and on a juicy rebound Pavel Buchnevich was beaten to the loose puck on the goal line by a CSKA defencemen. The visitors opted to wait for chances on the counterattack, and Mikko Koskinen was forced into two sharp saves against Alexander Radulov backhanders up close.

The team began the second stanza on a five on three, however SKA surprisngly ended up taking the lead shorthanded. With Alexander Kadeikin in the box for tripping Steve Moses was left open at the high slot, and his heavily deflected wrister looped into the net beyond the confused goaltender. That sent the fans wild, however 31 seconds later CSKA got back on terms. On that same powerplay a loose puck bounced out to the doorstep, and Dmitry Kugryshev swept into the left corner. Our players seemed deflated by that prompt CSKA reply, and the visitors bossed the rest of the frame. They had 17 shots in the period compared to our 5, and after a few excellent Mikko Koskinen saves they took their first line. Roman Lyubimov took aim from the left faceoff circle, and with our goaltender unsighted it snuck through the pads.

Something had to be done heading into the third, and CSKA thought that they had netted a third right away. Ivan Telegin bundled it in up close, but after a second look the referees concluded that it had been kicked in on purpose. That left our team in the game, and some opportunities did come inside the visitors’ zone. Vyacheslav Voynov thumped a slapper over the bar at the blue line, and Pavel Buchnevich could only shoot into the goalkeeper’s glove when alone in the middle of the zone. Time began to tick down, and a terrible Dmitry Kalinin 5+20 call for checking to the head and neck area gave CSKA an ideal opportunity to finish matters. Unfortunately they did just that, as Jan Mursak banked in off a defenceman’s back from a tight angle on the right. Nikita Gusev potted a big rebound with seven seconds to go after Mikko Koskinen was pulled, but there was no time left in which to equalise. 2:3, and the next match will take place against HC Dinamo Minsk away on Wednesday.

Match protocol:

SKA – CSKA – 2:3 (0:0, 1:2, 1:1)

Goals:

1:0 Moses, 27.09

1:1 Kugryshev (Denisov, Kiselevich), 27.40

1:2 Lyubimov (Radulov), 36.03

1:3 Mursak (Denisov), 56.03

2:3 Gusev (Shipachyov, Kovalchuk), 59.53

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Sorokin

Shots on target: 35 – 42

Penalty minutes: 33 – 12

Faceoffs: 27 – 33