Game three. Spartak – SKA

Game three. Spartak – SKA – 1:2

22 March 2022

In the third match of the second round of the 2021/2022 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs, SKA bravely managed to hold on against Spartak in Moscow, earning a hard-fought 2:1 victory to consequently take a 2-1 series lead.

Spartak started on the front foot with the backing of a packed Megasport Arena.

Lars Johansson was the slightly busier goaltender in the opening frame, making nine saves in comparison to Oscar Dansk’s eight for Spartak. Competing with speed and aggression, the hosts managed to create a handful of promising chances, but Johansson was up to the task and our defence did a solid job of protecting the Swede.

SKA began to gain a foothold towards the end of the period. On the doorstep, Emil Galimov wasted a fantastic chance, shooting against Dansk’s body after connecting with an intelligent pass from Andrei Kuzmenko.

The second stanza started with Spartak applying pressure on SKA and forcing Johansson into a couple of tough saves on the crease.

Nevertheless, our team gradually began to take control of proceedings as the frame progressed, breaking the deadlock in the 29^th minute as Anton Burdasov bundled the puck over the line at point-blank range. The goal was given following a short video review concerning a possible kicking motion.

SKA thought that they had made it two not long later.

However, after Mikko Lehtonen had hit the jackpot with a rasping wrister on the counter-attack, the goal was disallowed for interference against Dansk. Spartak had used their coach’s challenge for that review.

That incident didn’t affect the flow of the game, though, and SKA deservedly doubled their money with their first goal on the powerplay of the series in the penultimate minute of the frame.

On the right wing, Igor Ozhiganov decided to try his luck with a low wrist shot, and the puck deceived Dansk as a result of a wicked ricochet off a Spartak player.

Predictably, Spartak threw everything at SKA in the ensuing third period.

Their spell of heavy pressure resulted in a goal on the powerplay in the 48^th minute, with Andrei Loktionov beating the unsighted Johansson with a strong effort from the right faceoff circle.

Buoyed by that goal, the Muscovites naturally went on to press with urgency throughout the remainder of the third period. But, despite their pressing, SKA actually had the best chances, as Gusev was denied by the alert Dansk time and time again on the odd-man rush.

Spartak pulled Dansk in favour of the extra skater in the concluding two minutes of the period. Thankfully for us, SKA successfully held on, keeping the home team at a safe distance for the most part and displaying admirable commitment to block plenty of shots.

The fourth game of the series will take place on Thursday in the Russian capital. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Spartak – SKA – 1:2 (0:0, 0:2, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Burdasov (Kuzmenko, Komarov), 28.17

0:2 Ozhiganov (Tokranov), 38.03 PPG

1:2 Loktionov (Nikishin, Vishnevsky), 47.08 PPG

Goalkeepers: Dansk – Johansson

Shots: 59 - 43

Shots on target: 27 - 24

Faceoffs: 37 - 26

Blocked shots: 8 - 13