Third-period push powers SKA past Kazan!

18 December 2025

SKA had to be patient against a powerful Ak Bars side, but a superb third-period display fired our team to a pulsating 3:2 triumph at the Ice Palace!

We were on the back foot for the vast majority of the maiden two frames, but a notable improvement in the third was simply too hot for Kazan to handle.

After an initial even start, Ak Bars rapidly took the initiative and bossed the play.

Sergei Ivanov was a busy man in our net with the visitors applying increasingly strong pressure. Two of his saves really were highlight-reel worthy, denying the clean-through Mitchell Miller with a sprawling stop before somehow sweeping the flying puck clear when it was already behind his back.

There was a feeling that an Ak Bars goal was coming, and it did in the 16^th minute as Alexander Chmelevski carefully deflected Nikita Lyamkin’s attempt under Ivanov.

Moments later, the same player pulled through 1-on-1 with a silky move, but Ivanov made another top stop to keep SKA within one.

SKA pulled level on their second powerplay of the evening in the 24^th minute.

Alone on the left circle, Marat Khairullin sent a low effort past visiting goaltender Maxim Arefyev.

However, instead of using that goal as a springboard, our players contrived to take a number of penalties which allowed Ak Bars to regain control and begin to press with intensity again.

Ivanov was being called into action on a regular basis, tallying 15 saves in the second stanza alone – a period which lasted over 40 minutes due to two lengthy video reviews for penalties against Andrei Pedan (cross-checking) and Dmitrij Jaskin (spearing).

Valentin Zykov almost gave SKA the lead against the run of play in the concluding minute of a stop-start frame, smacking the right post after Ak Bars had carelessly lost possession.

SKA did then open up their first lead in the early stages of the third stanza.

It arrived in rather fortunate circumstances too, as Matvei Polyakov was on hand to tap home after Arefyev had inadvertently been pushed into his own net by Miller.

In stark contrast to the preceding two periods, SKA really were on the front foot now, forcing Kazan to commit mistakes in their own zone and drawing a series of fouls out of the opponents.

One of those fouls was indeed punished to the maximum in the 53^rd minute, with Sergei Plotnikov hammering an unstoppable slap shot between Arefyev’s pads.

Ak Bars made it a nervy finish when the lively Miller fired into the far corner from the right flank while competing on a 6-on-4 powerplay. Predictably, there were a few hairy moments in the dying seconds as Kazan threw everything bar the kitchen sink at SKA, but Ivanov shut the door expertly to get his team over the line.

SKA will now prepare to host Spartak Moscow in Saint Petersburg on Saturday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:00 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA – Ak Bars – 3:2 (0:1, 1:0, 2:1)

Goals:

0:1 Chmelevski (Lyamkin, Sem. Terekhov), 15.50

1:1 Khairullin (Zykov, Goldobin), 23.39 PPG

2:1 Polyakov, 44.11

3:1 Plotnikov (Savikov, Khairullin), 52.27 PPG

3:2 Miller (Lyamkin, Semyonov), 57.45 PPG

Goalkeepers: Ivanov – Arefyev

Shots: 54 – 64

Shots on target: 29 – 38