Leipsic leads SKA to tense shootout win at Lada!

12 January 2026

Lada made SKA sweat for the second time in the space of a week, but Brendan Leipsic pushed our team to a tense 4:3 shootout victory in Tolyatti.

Just like on Wednesday, SKA squandered a two-goal advantage and were on the brink of slipping up in disappointing fashion, however our players edged to an important win on penalties with Leipsic making the difference.

The match had initially started in perfect fashion, with Marat Khairullin and Matvei Polyakov both beating home goaltender Ivan Bocharov with fierce wristers.

However, Lada came roaring back in the second stanza, levelling it up within the maiden six minutes of the period as Tomas Jurco got the better of Sergei Ivanov and Nikita Setdikov followed suit.

The game was certainly finely balanced.

Nikita Nedopyokin looked to have grabbed the decisive goal midway through the third frame, forcing his wraparound in to tally his first KHL marker!

But, after Sergei Plotnikov had subsequently been penalised for high sticking, familiar face Andrei Altybarmakyan equalised a little over two minutes later.

The remainder of regulation and overtime saw both sides trade missed opportunities. The shootout was indeed required to separate the two teams, and Leipsic - alongside Artemiy Pleshkov who had replaced Ivanov for penalties - stepped up to the plate to ensure that SKA emerged victorious.

SKA will now prepare to face the Shanghai Dragons in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Lada - SKA - 3:4 SO (0:2, 2:0, 1:1, 0:0 - 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Khairullin (Vorobyov), 09.47

0:2 Polyakov (Dishkovsky), 13.30

1:2 Jurco (Tyanulin, Sawchuk), 23.51

2:2 Setdikov (Altybarmakyan), 25.38

2:3 Nedopyokin (Savikov, Ivanov), 49.19

3:3 Altybarmakyan (Sawchuk, Tyanulin), 51.21 PPG

3:4 Leipsic, 65.00 SO

Goalkeepers: Bocharov - Ivanov/Pleshkov