Spartak – SKA

Spartak – SKA – 4:6

30 October 2022

In a true spectacle, SKA held firm against Spartak Moscow at the Megasport Arena in the 2022/2023 KHL regular season, claiming a pulsating 6:4 triumph on the road!

SKA took the lead midway through the first period following an initial slow start.

Behind the Spartak net, Damir Zhafyarov picked out the lurking Marat Khairullin with a superb backhand pass, who made no mistake from the doorstep.

Spartak immediately equalised through Danila Kvartalnov on the counter-attack. Nevertheless, our players quickly retook the lead just 75 seconds later, as the unmarked Dmitrij Jaskin hit the jackpot from the crease on the powerplay.

A third goal arrived for our team in the 14^th minute.

At the high slot, Alexander Nikishin twisted to a shooting position and ripped an unstoppable wrister over Alexei Krasikov’s flailing blocker.

Dmitry Nikolaev was forced into 16 saves during the opening frame, with the majority of Spartak’s attempts being unleashed from the blue line. In the concluding couple of minutes of the frame, he stood his ground well to deny Kvartalnov his second, fielding his fierce wrister.

The second period turned out to be a huge test for the visitors.

Matvei Zaseda halved the deficit for Spartak in the first minute of the stanza, clearing up the loose change on the slot. In the 26^th minute, Mikhail Pashnin grabbed our fourth marker on the counter with a laser shot, but that was our only positive moment of a seriously challenging period.

Dominating proceedings, Spartak piled the pressure on throughout the remainder of the frame, tallying 26 (!) shots on target during the second period alone! Nikolaev was the only man keeping SKA in the game, but even he was powerless on two occasions.

Zaseda netted Spartak’s third goal when 1-on-1, before Ilya Talaluev sent a strong shot in from between the circles to draw the hosts level. It was the least what Spartak deserved, with our team failing to match the Muscovites’ pace and intensity. The fact that the shot count was 43-20 in Spartak’s favour after the opening 40 minutes tells you everything you need to know.

Our coaching staff took the decision to pull the impressive Nikolaev in favour of Alexander Samonov ahead of the third period, a call which proved to be the turning point.

In stark contrast to the first two periods, SKA suddenly started playing in a confident manner, controlling the play with intelligent ice hockey and taking the game to Spartak.

We didn’t have to wait long for our fifth goal. Unmarked on the slot, Zhafyarov went top-shelf on Krasikov after Khairullin’s first shot had been saved.

Spartak failed to recover from that blow. Unlike the preceding 40 minutes, the home team were unable to create a lot of realistic goalscoring chances, with SKA protecting Samonov effectively. The 27-year-old dealt with all seven Spartak attempts which he faced in the period.

Evgeny Ketov bundled the puck in from point-blank range with a little under three minutes remaining to seal the deal for SKA.

Our team will now prepare to host Sochi in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Spartak – SKA – 4:6 (1:3, 3:1, 0:2)

Goals:

0:1 Khairullin (Zhafyarov, Glotov), 10.50

1:1 Kvartalnov (Tsyplakov), 12.10

1:2 Jaskin (Khusnutdinov, Falkovsky), 13.25 PPG

1:3 Nikishin, 15.24

2:3 Zaseda (Varone, Keane), 21.11

2:4 Pashnin (Khairullin, Glotov), 25.25

3:4 Zaseda (Savikov, Khokhlachyov), 34.50