SKA survive scare in thriller against CSKA!

3 January 2025

SKA survived a late rally from CSKA Moscow in Saint Petersburg, holding on to claim a pulsating 6:3 triumph in the first KHL match of 2025!

The roles were reversed in comparison to what we saw against CSKA in Moscow last week, as this time SKA clung on for dear life in the third period having initially held a commanding four-goal advantage.

The sold-out SKA Arena was treated to a memorable edition of The Ivan Demidov Show in the first period.

Displaying quite incredible skill, the gifted 19-year-old forward opened the scoring in scintillating fashion in the fourth minute, making a mockery of the CSKA defence and backhanding neatly beyond away goalkeeper Ivan Prosvetov.

He subsequently doubled his tally with another superb effort midway through the frame.

Everyone lost sight of the flying puck except Demidov, who showed wonderful hand-eye coordination and technical skill to bat it over the line without raising his stick too high.

Our players were bossing proceedings with their aggressive approach. Marat Khairullin thought that he had grabbed our third during a delayed penalty, however he struck the crossbar with Prosvetov helpless.

Nevertheless, CSKA were attacking dangerously too, and Yegor Zavragin made one particular tough save against Rourke Chartier at point-blank range when SKA were only up by one.

Predictably, the Muscovites improved in the second stanza and created a handful of guilt-edged chances while competing on four powerplays. With Zavragin already beaten, Stanislav Galiyev simply had to score when unmarked on the left circle, but to our relief he smacked his one-timer into the side-netting.

That miss proved decisive.

SKA finally took advantage of one of their numerous 2-on-1 opportunities, with Tony DeAngelo calmly wristing beyond Prosvetov. Not long later, we capitalised on only our second powerplay of the game, as Pavel Akolzin deflected Alexander Nikishin’s rocket in to score his maiden SKA goal.

The hapless Prosvetov was pulled in favour of Pavel Khomchenko following our goal. Interestingly, instead of sitting on the bench, the forlorn CSKA goaltender initially trudged towards the dressing room.

To their credit, CSKA refused to wave the white flag and were fired up for the third stanza.

The away side quickly got themselves back in the game less than two minutes after the restart. Maxim Mamin was the scorer, wristing into the far corner when completely unmarked on the left flank.

That goal naturally changed the flow of the match in CSKA’s favour. Sensing blood, the capital-based organisation suddenly started competing with increased aggression and intent, forcing turnovers from SKA and making Zavragin work on a regular basis.

Their tenacious play was rewarded with a second goal in the 50^th minute.

Colby Williams notched CSKA’s fifth (!) shorthanded marker of the campaign, whacking an unstoppable slap shot over Zavragin’s blocker having pounced on a wayward pass.

Lose concentration against CSKA at your peril. Firmly on top, our arch-rivals registered a third to well and truly make it a grandstand finish with around four minutes remaining on the clock, as the lively Prokhor Poltapov caught Zavragin cold after a faceoff draw in our zone.

Thankfully, though, SKA would survive. Sergei Plotnikov was intelligently found by Demidov and hit the jackpot from a seemingly impossible angle on the right wing on a late powerplay, before Arseniy Gritsyuk iced it with an empty-netter.

SKA will now prepare to host Vityaz Moscow Region on Sunday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:00 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – CSKA – 6:3 (2:0, 2:0, 2:3)

Goals:

1:0 I. Demidov (DeAngelo, Zavragin), 03.25

2:0 I. Demidov (Nikishin, Plotnikov), 10.29

3:0 DeAngelo (Khairullin), 32.34

4:0 Akolzin (Nikishin, Gritsyuk), 35.07 PPG

4:1 Mamin (Karnaukhov, Williams), 41.34

4:2 Williams, 49.24 SHG

4:3 Poltapov (Sorkin), 55.48

5:3 Plotnikov (I. Demidov, DeAngelo), 58.07 PPG