CSKA - SKA - 2:6. Game Five

3 April 2015

SKA travelled to Moscow today for the fifth match of this KHL Gagarin Cup Western Conference final against HC CSKA Moscow. After a fantastic fourth match in the series head coach Vyacheslav Bykov made no changes to the line-up, with Mikko Koskinen still in our net and Stanislav Galimov his opposite number for CSKA.

Following that almost perfect performance in Saint Petersburg our players were full of confidence going into this one, and made a fantastic start. After killing an early penalty SKA earned a powerplay of their own, and took full advantage of it. Artemiy Panarin found room to the left of the crease, and caught the goalkeeper out near post. That allowed our team to start to control the game, and the second soon followed. Artemiy made an amazing tip pass to the onrushing Yevgeni Dadonov, and one on one the latter wristed over the goaltender’s glove. CSKA opted to pull Stanislav Galimov for Kevin Lalande after that for the second match in a row, and after Pyotr Khokhryakov brushed the bar they almost got back into it. All alone on the slot Yevgeni Artyukhin poked wide of the open left corner, and one on one Igor Makarov fired inches over with the goal at his mercy.

CSKA did however begin the second period on the powerplay, and they immediately hit the jackpot. Alexander Radulov wriggled around on the right faceoff circle, and wristed high over Mikko Koskinen. That gave the hosts something to build upon, and they laid siege to SKA’s net causing mayhem on the crease. Our team were picking their moments on the counterattack though, and scored a fantastic third. Ilya Kovalchuk laid the puck back to the steaming Andrey Kuteikin, and Andrey lashed fiercely over the glove. Despite that goal CSKA just would not go away, and two minutes later they made it a one goal game. Again with a man’s advantage Stephane Da Costa took aim from distance, and his effort was unstoppable flying top shelf. The chances were coming at either end now as the buzzer approached, and our players netted a crucial and beautiful fourth. 31 seconds before the break Yevgeni Dadonov went on a stunning mazy skate from deep, and gave the goalkeeper no chance when at close range.

That goal seemed to be a sucker punch for CSKA, and out players set about taking complete control of proceedings. The hosts were coming under immense pressing all over the ice, and it lead up to a killer fifth marker. Vadim Shipachyov raced away on a two on one, dished to Artemiy Panarin on the left, and Artemiy clinically made no mistake. Following that goal CSKA fell apart once and for all, and after an amass of penalties their head coach Dmitry Kvartalnov even decided to pull their goaltender for the extra skater with seven minutes remaining. That unsurprisingly didn't go unpunished, and Anton Burdasov at neutral ice scored to finish this one off once and for all. Mikko Koskinen did have a couple of late stops to make, especially a superb show of reactions against Simon Hjalmarsson, but SKA comfortably saw the game out to triumph 6:2 and take the series back to Saint Petersburg at 2:3 in the series!

Match protocol:

CSKA – SKA – 2:6 (0:2, 2:2, 0:2)

Goals:

0:1 Panarin (Dadonov, Shipachyov), 08.27

0:2 Dadonov (Rukavishnikov, Panarin), 11.32

1:2 Radulov (Da Costa), 20.36

1:3 Kuteikin (N Belov, Kovalchuk), 30.15

2:3 Da Costa (Grigorenko, Nemec), 32.42

2:4 Dadonov (Shipachyov), 39.29

2:5 Panarin (Shipachyov), 47.18

2:6 Burdasov (N Belov, Thoresen), 53.34

Goalkeepers: Galimov/Lalande – Koskinen