SKA - CSKA

SKA - CSKA - 3:1

13 January 2015

Today on the 13^th of January, SKA played their final match in this particular home series against the KHL league leaders CSKA Moscow. Mikko Koskinen was reinstated between the pipes, with Ilya Kovalchuk well enough to continue in the first line with Jimmie Ericsson and Pyotr Khokhryakov.

It was a match that everyone had been waiting for, and the emotions were clear right from the off. SKA began pressing hard inside CSKA’s zone, and it took just over three minutes for the net to be hit. The puck cannoned off the boards behind the goal, and Artemiy Panarin, showing quite stunning hand eye coordination, batted the puck past Stanislav Galimov glove side. That appeared to wake CSKA up though, and Mikko Koskinen was lucky to see Andreas Engqvist’s wrister from distance thump off the left hand post. Just as the visitors were pressing however, they conceded the second. Artemiy Panarin was slashed when charging through one on one, and he wonderfully backhanded his penalty shot in. Simon Hjalmarsson then called Mikko Koskinen into action as the period came to a close, with a testing effort on the turn between the circles.

The second stanza saw SKA continue on a previous powerplay, and Ilya Kovalchuk winding up from distance smacked the crossbar with the goalkeeper helpless. After that scare CSKA slowly but surely took the initiative, and they themselves also hit the woodwork. Alexander Radulov’s wrist shot from just inside the blue line looked to have sneaked in, however replays showed that the puck had come back down off the underside of the bar.

The visitors’ pressure was building, and eventually they got on the board. Mikhail Naumenkov took on a hopeful slap shot, and the goalkeeper was disorientated by Dmitry Kalinin’s skate. SKA immediately began to take charge after that blip, and promptly reclaimed the two goal lead. On the powerplay Andrey Kuteikin took aim, and with a true bullet he almost ripped the net apart. 3:1 after two.

It was inevitable that CSKA were going to be the more attacking side in the third, although chances kept on falling our team’s way. Vadim Shipachyov had a guilt edged opportunity to practically finish the game as a contest, as he failed to find the target completely open by the right post. Despite CSKA trying their best to make us panic SKA masterfully saw the game out, and claimed a wonderful 3:1 triumph on home ice!

Match protocol:

SKA – CSKA – 3:1 (2:0, 1:1, 0:0)

Goals:

1:0 Panarin (Khafizullin, Kuteikin), 03.20

2:0 Panarin, 13.58 PS

2:1 Naumenkov (Radulov), 32.37

3:1 Kuteikin (Panarin, Shipachyov), 35.16

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Galimov

Shots: 16 - 23

Faceoffs: 23 - 34

Penalty minutes: 8 - 10

Hits: 32 – 34