SKA - CSKA - 1:2 OT

28 March 2016

The fourth game of this 2015/2016 KHL Gagarin Cup third round series against HC CSKA took place in Saint Petersburg. A few changes were made by Sergei Zubov for this one, as Yegor Rykov came into the fourth line, and Pavel Buchnevich replaced Nikita Gusev in the first. Mikko Koskinen and Ilya Sorokin were the starting netminders.

Our season was on the line today, and we had to come out with guns blazing. We were intent on powering forward, and Pavel Buchnevich came close with a point blank range effort. Our players were spending long periods in CSKA’s zone, however our boldness was handing the visitors counterattacking opportunities. One of them finished with a goal: Grigory Panin dumped from distance, Mikko Koskinen failed to hold the puck, and Ivan Telegin made him pay. CSKA drew confidence from that marker, and they held the advantage throughout the remainder of the period. We were having real problems against Alexander Radulov’s line, and on a number of occasions only luck saved us from conceding a second.

That CSKA goal was a setback for us, and we had to be careful in the second as to not concede another. Our defence was tightening up, and at the other end, we were creating some promising chances. Alexander Dergachyov had one of the best, as his one timer from the high slot was beaten away by Ilya Sorokin’s blocker. Vadim Shipachyov also had a clear opening, as at a tight angle to the left he couldn’t find the target. Despite all of our pressing we weren’t getting too much joy inside the opponent’s zone, and CSKA were doing a great job of protecting their goaltender.

It was all or nothing for us in the third period, and we had no other option than to throw the kitchen sink at CSKA. All of the play was coming inside the Muscovites’ end, and with eight minutes left we finally found the net. On the powerplay Anton Belov launched a wrister from the point, and it almost burst the right corner. The Ice Palace had lift-off, and Vadim Shipachyov came close when in an ideal position. Nevertheless CSKA finished the stronger, and only Mikko Koskinen kept us in the game. With a few seconds remaining Alexander Radulov took up a loose puck, skated clean through, and backhanded against a Mikko's left pad.

It was overtime for the second match in a row, and unfortunately, it didn’t last long, After we had three dangerous shots CSKA broke away, Sergei Andronov wristed from the high slot, and he caught Mikko Koskinen cold. 1:2 today, 0:4 overall, and the series is over.

Match protocol:

SKA – CSKA – 1:2 OT (0:1, 0:0, 1:0 – 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Telegin (Lyubimov, Panin), 09.06

1:1 Belov (Moses, Yakovlev), 52.03

1:2 Andronov (Zaitsev), 61.02

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Sorokin

Shots on target: 37 – 31

Penalty minutes: 4 – 4

Faceoffs: 30 – 22

Hits: 26 – 15

Referees: Anisimov, Buturlin