Spartak - SKA

Spartak - SKA - 0:5

30 January 2021

Producing a ruthless performance, SKA put HC Spartak to the sword in Moscow, romping to an emphatic 5:0 triumph on the road in the 2020/2021 KHL regular season.

The two teams immediately set a quick, intense tempo at the CSKA Arena. Initially, SKA goalkeeper Alexander Samonov was called into action first as he stopped three dangerous attempts, but our players subsequently moved into the ascendency.

SKA promptly opened up a commanding two-goal lead in the space of 18 seconds in the 10^th minute.

Collecting a big rebound off the boards to the left of the slot, Lukas Bengtsson cleverly knocked the puck under Julius Hudacek, before Joonas Kemppainen sent an unstoppable wrister over the goalkeeper’s glove to instantly double the advantage. Spartak head coach Oleg Znarok called for his time-out after Kemppainen’s marker.

Nevertheless, that didn’t make much difference to the manner of the game, as SKA continued controlling proceedings expertly while creating opportunities at will.

Spartak, however, emerged for the second stanza as a completely different team.

All of a sudden, Znarok’s troops began to lay siege to the SKA goal, applying overwhelming pressure on the visitors with their aggressive approach. Thankfully, though, Samonov was in unbeatable form in our net, as the 25-year-old stopped all 20 Spartak shots which he faced throughout the period. Samonov’s talent was particularly on show for all to see as he pulled off a series of point-blank stops with Spartak ready to celebrate.

A fight between SKA defenseman Danila Galenyuk and Spartak forward Mikhail Kotlyarevsky only succeeded in getting the Muscovites even more fired up.

SKA were firmly on the back foot. However, with less than two minutes remaining in the second period, Ivan Morozov tallied a vital third marker against the run of play as he completed a flowing counter-attack.

That proved to be the decisive moment of the match.

Full of confidence, SKA made a perfect start to the third period, as Evgeny Ketov went five-hole on Hudacek when clean through shorthanded. That goal well and truly knocked the stuffing out of Spartak, and midway through the frame, Anton Burdasov ended the game as a contest as he thumped an unstoppable one-timer high over Hudacek.

In the closing stages, Spartak did try to at least ruin Samonov’s shutout hopes, but SKA calmly kept them at bay to see the match out! This is the first time in the current campaign when Samonov has picked up a clean sheet.

SKA will now prepare to face Dynamo Moscow in the Russian capital on Monday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Spartak - SKA - 0:5 (0:2, 0:1, 0:2)

Goals:

0:1 Bengtsson (Galenyuk, Tsitsyura), 09.26

0:2 Kemppainen, 09.44

0:3 Morozov (Burdasov, Galimov), 38.15

0:4 Ketov, 41.09

0:5 Burdasov (Morozov, Bengtsson), 50.40

Goalkeepers: Hudacek - Samonov

Shots on target: 31 - 20

Faceoffs: 25 - 24