OT setback in maiden summer friendly

25 August 2025

SKA fought back to force overtime against Ak Bars Kazan in the opening match of the 2025 Nikolai Puchkov Tournament, but the visitors subsequently secured a dramatic 3:2 win in the extra frame.

Brennan Menell initially saved the day for SKA with a mere 38 seconds remaining, wristing beyond familiar face Mikhail Berdin from distance. However, Artur Brovkin then tallied the all-important OT winner for the away side with his second of the evening.

Marat Khairullin had cancelled out Brovkin’s first effort with a low wrister on the powerplay midway through the second stanza.

After Mikhail Vorobyov had seen a marker disallowed for offside, Ilya Safonov looked to have won it for Kazan in the 57th minute, getting the better of SKA goalkeeper Artemiy Pleshkov on the PP.

Our players displayed character, though, equalising through Menell in the dying moments – something which will fill the coaches with positivity despite Ak Bars edging overtime.

SKA will now prepare to host Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg in the second game of the competition on Wednesday.

Match protocol:

SKA – Ak Bars – 2:3 OT (0:1, 1:0, 1:1, 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Brovkin (Safonov, Terekhov), 01.18

1:1 Khairullin (Vorobyov, Murphy), 29.18 PPG

1:2 Safonov (Lyamkin, Pustozyorov), 56.29

2:2 Menell (Korotky, Loktionov), 59.22

2:3 Brovkin (Fisenko, Falkovsky), 62.52

Goalkeepers: Pleshkov – Berdin

Shots: 54 – 63

Shots on target: 30 – 32