Game four. Spartak – SKA

Game four. Spartak – SKA – 1:2 OT

24 March 2022

In a highly dramatic fourth match of the second round of the 2021/2022 KHL Gagarin Cup playoffs, SKA earned a tense 2:1 overtime victory against Spartak in Moscow, consequently moving 3-1 ahead in the series.

The first period was almost a carbon-copy of Tuesday.

With the backing of their passionate home fans, Spartak competed on the front foot and applied pressure, while SKA were mainly relying on counter-attacks. The best chance of the opening frame was wasted by SKA, as Leo Komarov could only backhand the puck over the crossbar when pouncing on the rebound after Spartak goalkeeper Oscar Dansk had stopped Andrei Kuzmenko’s tip.

Mikhail Vorobyov knocked the puck not far wide of the right post when powering to the slot towards the end of the period. For all of their pressing, Spartak didn’t call Lars Johansson into any real serious action, with the majority of their shots being unleashed from distance.

SKA broke the deadlock in the opening minute of the second stanza.

Unmarked between the faceoff circles, Nikita Gusev received a wonderful pass from the lively Danila Moiseev and sent a clattering one-timer low into the left corner.

The rest of the period saw Spartak press our team with intensity. Eager to find a way back into the match, the Muscovites took aim from any angle possible, forcing Johansson into a series of difficult saves. On a late powerplay, Anton Burdasov did come close to tallying our second marker with a rare chance, but his instant effort was acrobatically kept out by Dansk.

Spartak continued forcing the issue in the third period. As a consequence of a late penalty taken by SKA for delaying the faceoff draw twice, the Moscow-based outfit were gifted a handy powerplay with around three minutes remaining in regulation time, however they couldn’t find many openings with the visitors defending solidly.

SKA seemed to be closing in on the win. However, Spartak did register their craved equaliser to force overtime with one minute remaining in the third frame, as Jori Lehtera forced the puck over the line at point-blank range after Dansk had been swapped in favour of the extra skater.

Buoyed by that goal, Spartak did indeed start overtime with the initiative. Thankfully for us, though, Johansson was unaffected by the earlier conceded goal, pulling off a few tricky saves to keep the game alive.

The decisive moment of the evening arrived in the 73^rd minute.

Following a lengthy spell of pressure, Kuzmenko finished the match in SKA’s favour in trademark beautiful fashion, twisting to the slot brilliantly and expertly sliding the puck under the sprawling Dansk.

Game five will take place on Saturday in Saint Petersburg. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Spartak – SKA – 1:2 OT (0:0, 0:1, 1:0, 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Gusev (Moiseev, Vorobyov), 20.49

1:1 Lehtera (Loktionov, Shirokov), 59.00

1:2 Kuzmenko (Ozhiganov), 72.49

Goalkeepers: Dansk – Johansson

Shots: 71 - 56

Shots on target: 35 - 32

Faceoffs: 31 - 30

Blocked shots: 10 - 16