Game one. SKA - Vityaz

Game one. SKA - Vityaz - 6:1

1 March 2020

In the opening game of the 2019/2020 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs first round series, SKA proved far too strong for HC Vityaz Podolsk, claiming an emphatic 6:1 triumph at the Saint Petersburg.

During the first period, Andrei Kuzmenko scored a wonderful individual goal, before Pavel Chernov promptly equalised for Vityaz.

Nevertheless, SKA increased the tempo in the second, grabbing three powerplay goals through Joonas Kemppainen, Kirill Marchenko and Kuzmenko. Marchenko tallied another at equal strength.

In the third frame, Kuzmenko completed his hat-trick, sealing the thumping 6:1 victory! Goalkeeper Alexander Samonov, formely of Vityaz, stopped 17 of 18 shots he faced.

The second match will take place at the Ice Palace on Tuesday.

Match protocol:

SKA - Vityaz - 6:1 (1:1, 4:0, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Kuzmenko, 08.32

1:1 Chernov (Artyukhin), 13.21

2:1 Kemppainen (Burdasov), 21.19

3:1 Marchenko (Morozov), 26.57

4:1 Marchenko (Podkolzin, Morozov), 30.05

5:1 Kuzmenko (Ozhiganov), 30.42

6:1 Kuzmenko (Burdasov), 49.44

Goalkeepers: Samonov - Ezhov/Saprykin