SKA - CSKA - 2:1 OT. Game Six

5 April 2015

The sixth game of this KHL Gagarin Cup Western Conference final between SKA and HC CSKA Moscow took place today inside the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace. Unsurprisingly head coach Vyacheslav Bykov made no changes to the line-up, however CSKA opted to swap goaltender Stanislav Galimov for Kevin Lalande. Mikko Koskinen was between our pipes.

It was a very nervy start to proceedings, as our players couldn’t control the puck in either zone. CSKA settled into things the quickest, and they created a couple of promising openings. Roman Lyubimov had a dangerous backhanded deflected over by Mikko Koskinen's left shoulder, and a few dumps into the slot caused some moments of panic. A cheap CSKA penalty allowed our team to get something going however, and the net was soon bulging. Ilya Kovalchuk hung back on the right faceoff circle, slapped as hard as he can, and found the far corner. That gave SKA something off which to build, and Yevgeni Dadonov was somehow denied from point blank range on a goalmouth scramble. As the period rolled on CSKA kept on taking penalties, and the puck barely left their own zone as shots from every position possible were being fired in.

The second continued to see SKA do the majority of the attacking, however just three minutes in the visitors made it a tied game. Patrick Thoresen was sent to the penalty box for interference, and Stephane Da Costa punished him to the full when twisting at the high slot. After some quiet moments following that goal our players picked it up again, and held the initiative for the most part. Ilya Kovalchuk and Tony Martensson were stoned from close range by Kevin Lalande, and Yevgeni Dadonov contrived to only hit the goaltender’s body when alone at the doorstep. On a powerplay with minutes to go CSKA came very close to a second though, with only an amazing Mikko Koskinen double stop keeping them out.

Any mistake or piece of skill could now prove to be decisive, and both teams weren’t willing to take any risks at all. CSKA began to get in penalty trouble though, and Roman Lyubimov received a deserved 5+20 penalty for a disgusting hit against Ilya Kablukov. It seemed to be the perfect chance for our team to go on and get that second chance, but apart from one Patrick Thoresen opening between the circles not a lot was created during those five minutes. After that the opportunities dried up, and some dangerous Alexander Radulov forages caused many SKA hearts to go in the mouth late on.

That goalless third frame meant that it was time for a spot of overtime, and just how important this was – either CSKA would take the series, or our players would take it to an amazing seventh game. It was the visitors who were better early on, and Mikko Koskinen had a few sharp saves to make as CSKA pressed SKA hard all around the ice. However it was our day, as the Ice Palace almost had its roof blown off. With the first chance of overtime Patrick Thoresen was left alone at the doorstep, and he clinically fired under Kevin Lalande’s blocker. 2:1 today making it 3:3 in the series, and SKA will now travel to Moscow for the deciding seventh game on Tuesday!

Match protocol:

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

Goals:

1:0 Kovalchuk (Dadonov, Shipachyov), 08.02

1:1 Da Costa (Bondarev, Hjalmarsson), 24.21

2:1 Thoresen (Kablukov, A Belov), 69.01

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Lalande

Shots: 26 – 28

Penalty minutes: 6 – 37

Faceoffs: 31 – 30

Blocked shots: 13 – 19

Hits: 24 – 12