Slovan - SKA

Slovan - SKA - 0:6

4 October 2016

SKA completed their European KHL series with a match against HC Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia. After losing to Medvescak 4:5, head coach Oleg Znarok opted to replace Mikko Koskinen with Igor Shestyorkin in net. Barry Brust was Slovan’s starting goalkeeper.

In need of a confidence booster, a goal in the first shift did just the trick. Ilya Kovalchuk pulled out to the boards, sent a pass across and a Slovan defenseman turned it into his own net. Shocked by that awful start, Slovan looked shaky in defence, in turn giving SKA plenty of chances. Alexander Khokhlachyov and Nikita Gusev could, and should, have extended the lead, however Slovan’s Barry Brust stood tall to keep his team in the game. SKA’s Igor Shestyorkin was much a spectator, making only the one big save during the period.

Slovan came out harder in the second, forcing Igor Shestyorkin into a few expert stops. Nevertheless, despite Slovan’s huffing and puffing, SKA were in the box seat and added a crucial second goal – Ilya Kovalchuk took up possession and rifled high over the glove. Having no choice than to pile forward, Slovan left spaces gaping at the back, gifting our team some promising openings. Barry Brust displayed impressive acrobatics to deny Nikolai Prokhokrin’s point blank effort, but with the stanza entering its final minute, he was powerless from preventing SKA making it a three goal game. Steve Moses skated away on an odd man rush, dished a pass to Jarno Koskiranta and the latter made no mistake.

In no mood for showing any mercy, our players well and truly destroyed Slovan in the third period. Just like in the first, Ilya Kovalchuk scored with a clever attempt early on, sealing his hat trick at the same time. In complete meltdown, Slovan were nowhere to be seen on the ice, and SKA picked them apart at will. Nikolai Prokhorkin netted his first of the season when clean through, and seconds after skating out from the penalty box, Steve Moses joined the party. Just to add the gloss to the victory, Igor Shestyorkin made a simply stunning late save up close, and that was enough for him to tally up his third shutout. 6:0 in Bratislava, SKA travel home with a fantastic victory!

Match protocol:

Slovan – SKA – 0:6 (0:1, 0:2, 0:3)

Goals:

0:1 Kovalchuk, 00.37

0:2 Kovalchuk, 30.41

0:3 Koskiranta (Moses, Khokhlachyov), 39.18

0:4 Kovalchuk (Tikhonov, Plotnikov), 40.38

0:5 Prokhorkin (Barabanov, Rukavishnikov), 42.20

0:6 Moses (Dadonov), 45.54

Goalkeepers: Brust – Shestyorkin

Shots on target: 36 – 34

Penalty minutes: 6 – 6