SKA - Vityaz

SKA - Vityaz - 5:3

12 November 2015

SKA played their second home match in a row against HC Vityaz Podolsk. Despite winning against Dynamo 3:2 on Tuesday new official head coach Sergei Zubov made a few changes, as Nikita Gusev was paired with Vadim Shipachyov and Evgeny Dadonov in the second line. Evgeny Artyukhin and Alexei Ponikarovsky were returned to the fourth line, while goaltender Mikko Koskinen was kept in net. Fellow Finn Harri Sateri was his opposite number for Vityaz.

The team seemed rather flat as proceedings got underway, and Vityaz were completely dominating inside our zone. Shot after shot was being fired in on Mikko Koskinen’s net, and he was making some excellent saves. One of the best came against Olli Palola, as the Finn’s rebound somehow stayed out glove side. SKA needed something to get going, and a goal did just that. During the team’s first real attack Alexander Barabanov hung behind the net, fed Jarno Koskiranta on the right post, and Jarno did the rest. The Ice Palace’s volume took a sharp rise, and minutes later on the powerplay they were on their feet for a second time. Nikita Gusev skated out to the left, cheekily wristed far corner, and caught Harri Sateri cold. It could have even been three seconds later, but Alexander Barabanov wristed directly into the goaltender’s middle open at the high slot.

Vityaz weren’t willing to go away though, and out of nothing they got right back into things. Ex SKA player Vyacheslav Solodukhin got them on the board early on, as he backhanded between Mikko Koskinen’s pads closing down. SKA seemed to be slightly shocked by that goal, and an Andrei Kuteikin penalty paved the way for the visitors to equalise. Just as that minor was coming to an end an almighty goalmouth scramble erupted, and eventually Anton Korolyov managed to squeeze it over the line. Nevertheless that goal did achieve in getting our players going again, and the rest of the period belonged to SKA. Harri Sateri’s goal was seeing plenty of shots coming its way, and he was lucky to see Jarno Koskiranta backhand against the crossbar. Joakim Lindstrom came close with three efforts in a row, and Ilya Kovalchuk almost got away one on one as covering defencemen got back in time.

A tense and exciting third period lay in wait, and a 5+20 Vityaz penalty gave our players the perfect chance to retake the lead. The puck was set across the Vityaz slot, and Nikita Gusev got the killer touch to give SKA the advantage. That was the only goal that the team could score on that extended powerplay though, and with a man’s extra themselves the visitors made us pay. Temu Eronen wristed from distance, and Nikita Vyglazov tipped beyond an unsighted Mikko Koskinen. SKA had to do something, and the players threw everything into the attack. Harri Sateri was coming under siege, and Andrei Kuteikin, Nikita Gusev and Vyacheslav Voynov were all denied when they looked sure to score. The tension was high inside the Ice Palace as the final few minutes crept upon us, but SKA ensured that there was to be a dramatic climax. Nikita Gusev rolled the puck back to Vadim Shipachyov, and Vadim launched the puck high into the right corner. That marker came with only three minutes remaining, and this time there wasn’t going to be any Vityaz comeback. With Harri Sateri pulled Evgeny Dadonov took up the puck, and lashed into the empty net for his 100^th Russian championship goal. 5:3 today, and SKA take away a vital win against Vityaz!

Match protocol:

SKA – Vityaz – 5:3 (2:0, 0:2, 3:1)

Goals:

1:0 Koskiranta (Barabanov, Lindstrom), 06.39

2:0 Gusev (Shipachyov, Chudinov), 10.28

2:1 Solodukhin (Korolyov), 23.41

2:2 Korolyov (Solodukhin, Lukin), 30.34

3:2 Gusev (Yakovlev, Dadonov), 42.50

3:3 Vyglazov (Horak, Eronen), 47.18

4:3 Shipachyov (Kuteikin, Gusev), 57.10

5:3 Dadonov (Kablukov), 59.23

Goalkeepers: Koskinen – Sateri