CSKA - SKA

CSKA - SKA - 3:2

24 March 2016

Game two of this 2015/2016 KHL playoffs third round series took place today against HC CSKA Moscow away. One change was made by Sergei Zubov after losing the opening encounter 0:3, with Yegor Rykov dropping out of the line-up. Mikko Koskinen was between our pipes, and Ilya Sorokin was CSKA’s netminder.

After falling in the first match SKA opted for a different approach today, and we kept a physical CSKA side at bay during the first period. Players of both teams were throwing themselves into one another, and a total of 34 hits were witnessed in the frame alone. Goalscoring chances were at a premium, and the best stop was made by Mikko Koskinen: after giving up a juicy rebound, he pulled off a stunning blocker save to deny Kirill Petrov. As the period went on we slowly began to take the initiative, and had a couple of opportunities ourselves. Steve Moses backhanded against the goalkeeper when sneaking in from the right flank, and Vadim Shipachyov was denied blocker side on the powerplay.

The tension was high moving into the second period, and an early fight set the tone. Vadim Shipachyov and Geoff Platt jousted at neutral ice, and their bust up took the bad tempered nature of the game up even more. Neither team were giving each other an inch, and the referees were having trouble keeping up with the play. The first goal was always going to be crucial, and eventually we made the breakthrough. Steve Moses twisted on the right faceoff circle, wristed, and it snuck through Ilya Sorokin’s pads. CSKA predictably powered forward after that, and the rest of the frame was spent inside of our zone. Mikko Koskinen was making some fantastic saves, and he somehow got a right pad on to Kirill Petrov’s point blank effort. The pressure wouldn’t let up, and CSKA thought that they had got back on terms. Ivan Telegin netted on a goalmouth scramble, however after Sergei Zubov used his coach’s challenge, the referees ruled that Mikko Koskinen had been illegally interfered against on the crease.

We got into penalty trouble at the start of the third, and this time CSKA punished us within the rules. Vadim Shipachyov failed to clear the zone, and Geoff Platt levelled it up practically on the goal line. We were back at square one, and CSKA had smelt blood. All the action was coming by our net, and we were lucky to see Roman Lyubimov miss the puck with the goal at his mercy. Nevertheless we were sticking with it, and amazingly we retook the lead on the penalty kill. Ilya Sorokin got in a mess outside of his goal, and Jarno Koskiranta poked into the empty net. SKA had ten minutes left to hang on, but despite an heroic effort we couldn’t do it. Geoff Platt equalised on the doorstep, and then Alexander Radulov scored a powerplay marker off Anton Belov’s skate. CSKA’s goaltender wasn’t to be beaten again, and SKA have lost to CSKA 2:3 to go down in the series 0:2. The next game will take place in Saint Petersburg on Saturday the 26^th of March.

Match protocol:

CSKA – SKA – 3:2 (0:0, 0:1, 3:1)

Goals:

0:1 Moses (Voynov, Koskiranta), 29.08

1:1 Platt (Zaitsev, Da Costa), 43.15

1:2 Koskiranta (Chudinov, Dergachyov), 48.11

2:2 Platt (Zaitsev, Radulov), 52.08

3:2 Radulov, 56.12

Goalkeepers: Sorokin – Koskinen

Shots on target: 32 – 20

Penalty minutes: 6 – 6

Faceoffs: 33 – 27