Torpedo - SKA

Torpedo - SKA - 4:2

27 January 2017

SKA travelled to Nizhny Novgorod for a KHL match against HC Torpedo. With a number of players missing and Pavel Datsyuk having travelled to the NHL All-Star Game, head coach Oleg Znarok was left with a roster headache. In the end, he had to call up young forward Arkhip Nekolenko from farm club SKA-Neva. Mikko Koskinen and Mikhail Biryukov were the starting netminders.

It was a slow start inside the Nagorniy stadium, with both teams throwing caution to the wind. Torpedo, who had lost their past three consecutive home games, weren't prepared to take any risks against top of the table SKA, focusing on defence. Nevertheless, it was SKA who managed to break the deadlock - Ilya Kovalchuk skated between the circles, unleashing an unstoppable wrister over the goalkeeper's blocker.

If Torpedo were quiet during the first period, they came flying out of the blocks for the second. It didn't take them long to get back on level terms either, as Nikolai Zherdev made the most of a loose puck on the crease. Under pressure, SKA were forced into fouling, earning three penalties in a row. Thankfully Mikko Koskinen was on his game, denying Torpedo with some alert point blank range stops. SKA had their backs to the wall, but completely against the run of play, our players grabbed a second lead - Yegor Rykov's beautiful assist was smashed home by Ilya Kablukov.

Holding an advantage, SKA shut up shop for the third period, not wanting to let the fired up hosts get ahead of steam. However, unfortunately, the team failed to cope with Torpedo's rampant pressing. Vladimir Galuzin tied the game up, wristing into the left corner after his original shot had been blocked. If that wasn't bad enough, Torpedo soon scored their third - Mikko Koskinen failed to cover Kirill Urakov's wrister, allowing John Norman to net he rebound. Sadly, despite pulling Mikko Koskinen for the extra skater in the final minute, that only resulted in Torpedo icing it with an empty netter. 2:4, SKA drop a defeat in Nizhny Novgorod.

Match protocol:

Torpedo - SKA - 4:2 (0:1, 1:1, 3:0)

Goals:

0:1 Kovalchuk (Khafizullin), 11.07

1:1 Zherdev (Ashton, Grachyov), 24.22

1:2 Kablukov (Shirokov, Rykov), 36.52

2:2 Galuzin (Osipov, Urakov), 40.44

3:2 Norman (Urakov), 47.33

4:2 Kulyomin (Egorshev, Zheldakov), 58.18

Goalkeepers: Biryukov - Koskinen

Shots on target: 25 - 28

Penalty minutes: 31 - 13