Spartak - SKA

Spartak - SKA - 0:4

9 October 2017

In Moscow, SKA aimed to pick up a 20th consecutive KHL victory. HC Spartak were the opponents, a team which SKA had beaten 5:0 recently. Head coach Oleg Znarok continued his squad rotation, giving David Rundblad a chance while dropping fellow Swede Patrik Hersley. Igor Shestyorkin and Nikita Bespalov were the starting goaltenders.

Both teams set a frantic pace in the opening period. SKA were holding the majority of possession, but Spartak's counterattacks were proving to be a real threat. Igor Shestyorkin bailed our defence out, as he pulled off a handful of superb point blank range stops. Our players couldn't create many opportunities in Spartak's zone, but Nikita Bespalov was forced into a few excellent saves.

SKA improved greatly in the second stanza. Seconds after a Spartak powerplay expired, the deadlock was finally broken. Mikhail Maltsev burst out from the box, picked out Sergei Plotnikov with a superb pass, and the latter tapped into the gaping net. Five minutes later, SKA doubled their money. Nikita Gusev was the scorer, lashing in a one timer on the left faceoff circle. In the mood for more, our players began piling the misery on a tired looking Spartak side. The third goal came as Dinar Khafizullin tipped in Sergei Shirokov's effort with his skate, before David Rundblad beat the netminder with a crashing slap shot. Following that fourth goal, Spartak opted to swap Nikita Bespalov for Alexander Trushkov.

With the game wrapped up, the tempo took a severe drop in the third period. SKA were gifted several powerplay chances, however Spartak's Alexander Trushkov prevented our team from extending the advantage. Nevertheless, Igor Shestyorkin calmly kept his shutout intact, steering SKA to an important 4:0 victory against Spartak Moscow!

Match protocol:

Spartak - SKA - 0:4 (0:0, 0:4, 0:0)

Goals:

0:1 Plotnikov (Maltsev), 23.13

0:2 Gusev (Rundblad, Barabanov), 28.48

0:3 Khafizullin (Kalinin, Shirokov), 29.59

0:4 Rundblad (Zubarev, Prokhorkin), 31.24

Goalkeepers: Bespalov/Trushkov - Shestyorkin

Shots on target: 21 - 33

Penalty minutes: 10 - 4

Faceoffs: 14 - 29

Hits: 13 - 12