Nikolai Puchkov Tournament. SKA - Sochi

Nikolai Puchkov Tournament. SKA - Sochi - 4:3

23 August 2023

In the second match of the 2023 Nikolai Puchkov Tournament, SKA outlasted Sochi in a thriller, tallying a thoroughly entertaining 4:3 triumph thanks to Alexander Nikishin's blast in the penultimate minute of regulation time.

Sochi initially shocked the Ice Palace crowd in the first period, opening up a surprise two-goal lead with Artyom Alyaev and Borna Rendulic firing beyond young SKA goalkeeper Sergei Ivanov.

Nevertheless, our players soon atoned for their errors in the subsequent second stanza, as Ivan Zinchenko prodded home from close range and fellow new signing Vladimir Alistrov slid the puck over the line when powering clean through on the powerplay. Alistrov's marker arrived with a mere six seconds remaining on the clock.

Dmitry Buchelnikov completed a flowing play to give SKA their maiden advantage of the evening midway through the third frame. However, instead of throwing in the towel, Sochi responded well and equalised in the 54th minute with former SKA representative Artyom Nikolaev getting on the board.

Thankfully, though, SKA eventually prevailed thanks to Nikishin's late show.

SKA will return to competition action on Friday against Sibir Novosibirsk. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

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

Goals:

0:1 Alyaev (Koryagin, Nikolaev), 07.27

0:2 Rendulic (Petkov, Graham), 14.02

1:2 Zinchenko (I. Fedotov. I. Demidov), 28.10

2:2 Alistrov (Sergeev), 39.54 PPG

3:2 Buchelnikov (Alistrov), 49.57

3:3 Nikolaev, 53.04

4:3 Nikishin (Glotov), 58.38