CSKA - SKA

CSKA - SKA - 1:2

23 September 2015

In the fourth and final match of this away series, SKA took on HC CSKA Moscow inside the LDS CSKA. After the game against Dynamo on Monday Andrei Nazarov made a few changes to the line-up, as Ilya Ezhov replaced Mikko Koskinen in net and Andrei Kuteikin came back to the fourth line. Swede Viktor Fasth was CSKA’s netminder for this one.

Both teams have huge history against each other, and the first period was very much a tactical battle. Neither side were willing to open up, and that suited our team more as CSKA could only muster six shots on target. Our players on the other hand had full control of the game, and spent most of the frame skating around CSKA’s zone holding the Muscovites off. The best chance came midway through the period for Jarno Koskiranta, but alone by the right post he couldn’t get a clean attempt away. CSKA did come on a bit as time ran on though, and the hosts had two excellent opportunites to score. Both Ivan Telegin and Alexander Radulov were open on the doorstep, and our Ilya Ezhov came to the rescue with a couple of expert left pad saves. Those stops proved crucial too, as just two minutes before the buzzer we struck. Evgeny Dadonov stripped his marker, found Vadim Shipachyov who dished to Anton Burdasov on the right faceoff circle, and Anton slapped hard past the goaltender.

CSKA weren’t content with being held in their own zone, and as soon as the second frame got underway they pressed hard. Our players didn’t cope too well either, and took three very untimely penalties in a row. Ilya Ezhov was being tested constantly as CSKA upped the pace with every passing minute, and he made two outstanding saves in particular. The first came when Roman Lyubimov backhanded clean through, and then Ilya somehow got the tip of his glove on to a goalbound Nikita Zaitsev slapper. Our penalty killers were helping him out too with some heroic shot blocking, and that was rewarded with a crucial second goal. Not long after a CSKA powerplay had ended Ilya Kovalchuk skated beautifully to the right, and wristed beyond Viktor Fasth’s blocker. CSKA seemed a bit deflated after that goal, but they caused our players more problems during the last few minutes. With Andrei Kuteikin in the box Geoff Platt had open ice between the circles, however he could only blast wide glove side.

20 penalty minutes were taken during the second period, and unbelievably another 20 were coming in the third. Every little foul was being penalised by the referees, and SKA spent just about the entire period on the kill. The puck barely left our zone, but interestingly when CSKA did score, it happened to be at even strength. Alexander Radulov peeled to the left wing, and smashed his one timer into the far corner. His wild celebrations sparked the home fans into life, and practically every CSKA attack drew a penalty out of SKA. There was room for a fight too, as CSKA’s Denis Denisov gave Pyotr Khokhryakov a beating after Yegor Yakovlev had fell awkwardly. The hosts kept on throwing their bodies about in our zone with time slowly running down, however Ilya Ezhov was a rock between the pipes. Ivan Telegin was shut down when close up, and young Maxim Mamin couldn’t beat Ilya’s left pad when clean through. CSKA were getting frustrated, and with Viktor Fasth pulled Evgeny Ketov and Pyotr Khokhryakov both hit the frame of the goal when faced with the empty net. Ilya Ezhov had one last mega save to make against Simon Hjalmarsson at point blank range, but despite outshooting SKA 13-0 in that last period, they couldn’t make it count. 2:1 in Moscow for SKA today, and with only 13 shots on target and 40 penalty minutes on the board our players take away an heroic victory!

Match protocol:

CSKA – SKA – 1:2 (0:1, 0:1, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Burdasov (Dadonov, Shipachyov), 18.07

0:2 Kovalchuk (Lindstrom), 30.26

1:2 Radulov (Kiselevich, Stolyarov), 42.54

Goalkeepers: Fasth – Ezhov

Shots on target: 32 – 13

Penalty minutes: 14 – 40

Faceoffs: 18 – 20

Hits: 22 – 29

Referees: Jerabek, Boman