Comeback for the ages falls just short

25 December 2024

SKA almost completed one of the most dramatic comebacks the KHL has ever witnessed, but CSKA just held on to condemn our team to a slender 5:6 defeat in Moscow.

The first period really was an utter nightmare.

CSKA set the tone with a blistering start. Pavel Karnaukhov’s pass from behind the net was inadvertently knocked in by SKA defenseman Danila Galenyuk, before Denis Guryanov tipped beyond the unfortunate Yegor Zavragin.

Zavragin was pulled in favour of Pavel Moisevich following those two quickfire CSKA goals which had been netted within the opening 57 seconds.

To our dismay, that change didn’t have a positive effect whatsoever. Having smelt blood, a rampant CSKA side piled on the pressure against our somewhat shaky defence, grabbing three more goals before the 15-minute mark with Vitaly Abramov converting when 1-on-1, Maxim Sorkin catching Moisevich cold with a snappy wrister and Karnaukhov bundling the loose puck in at point-blank range.

SKA were well and truly shell-shocked. Nevertheless, to their credit, our players showed their character with a much-improved display in the second stanza.

Several clear opportunities came and went, with Ivan Prosvetov producing a set of impressive stops against the likes of Mikhail Grigorenko, Vasily Glotov and Marat Khairullin. Nonetheless, our pressure was finally rewarded with a goal in the penultimate minute of the period, with Sergei Sapego fooling Prosvetov with a low attempt from a tight angle on the left flank.

That goal provided us with a much-needed boost.

Alexander Nikishin tallied our second in the 48^th minute, beating Prosvetov with a bomb from the blue line. In the subsequent shift, Kirill Dolzhenkov pounced on a big rebound on the crease to snatch CSKA’s six, but SKA weren’t out of it.

Arseniy Gritsyuk’s powerful wrist shot was too hot for Prosvetov to handle. The lively Ivan Demidov got SKA back to within two five minutes after Gritsyuk's marker with his third goal in as many games, receiving a pass from Grigorenko and giving Prosvetov no chance with his one-timer.

After Zavragin had been pulled for the extra skater, we really did make it a grandstand finish, as Sergei Plotnikov tucked in from the slot with four minutes still left to play. Throwing everything at the struggling Muscovites, SKA came close to forcing overtime in the most unlikely of circumstances, however the opponents clung on for dear life.

SKA will now prepare to face Sochi on the road on Friday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 16:30 local time.

Match protocol:

CSKA – SKA – 6:5 (5:0, 0:1, 1:4)

Goals:

1:0 Karnaukhov (Nesterov, Claesson), 00.41

2:0 Guryanov (Williams, Afanasyev), 00.57

3:0 Abramov (Poltapov, Williams), 08.11

4:0 Sorkin (Poltapov), 14.02

5:0 Karnaukhov (Mamin), 14.38

5:1 Sapego (DeAngelo), 38.34

5:2 Nikishin (Glotov, I. Demidov), 47.36

6:2 Dolzhenkov (Jaros), 47.51