Vityaz – SKA

Vityaz – SKA – 2:3 SO

4 November 2023

In a true thriller, SKA eventually pulled through against Vityaz Moscow Region away in Balashikha, claiming a dramatic 3:2 victory in the 2023/2024 KHL regular season after a tense penalty shootout.

In truth, the first period couldn’t have been any worse for SKA.

Vityaz opened up a two-goal lead within eight minutes, as Yegor Voronkov hit the jackpot with a rising wrister from the left faceoff circle and former SKA forward Vladislav Tsitsyura caught Nikita Serebryakov cold with a low attempt glove-side. Serebryakov was predictably replaced by Pavel Moisevich immediately after the second.

It’s worth noting that this marked the second consecutive match in which Serebryakov was pulled in favour of Moisevich.

To his credit, the giant 19-year-old Belarusian confidently eased his way into proceedings, in particular pulling off a superb double save against Vladislav Kara to keep SKA in the game.

Moisevich continued bailing SKA out in the second period.

Towards the end of the stanza, the teenager denied the unmarked Scott Wilson at point-blank range, reading the play perfectly to narrow the angle for the Vityaz forward.

SKA did try and press Vityaz, but two unnecessary penalties from Mikhail Pashnin and Nikolai Polyakov prevented us from generating some much-needed momentum. In the concluding minute, Marat Khairullin was gifted one major opportunity, but Vityaz goalkeeper Maxim Dorozhko moved across to his left post in time to field the rather weak one-timer.

Naturally, SKA threw everything at Vityaz in the third period.

Our first powerplay opened the door for us to kickstart the comeback. Alone on the right circle, Alex Galchenyuk finally gave SKA lift-off, hammering an unstoppable one-timer high over Dorozhko into the near corner.

SKA huffed and puffed for the remainder of the frame. To be frank, clear-cut chances were somewhat few and far between, but to our delight our vital equaliser arrived with slightly less than six minutes remaining in regulation.

When receiving an intelligent pass from Sergei Tolchinsky, the onrushing Sergei Sapego took aim and lashed a strong wrist shot beyond Dorozhko’s blocker to net his first competitive SKA goal.

For the first time this season, overtime was indeed required. Furthermore, after Moisevich and Dorozhko had pulled off a number of challenging stops during the additional five minutes, a shootout was needed to decide the winner.

Tsitsyura’s marker in the fourth round put SKA on the brink of a fourth consecutive defeat. However, in the fifth, Galchenyuk saved the day with a stunning effort.

The same player then repeated the trick in sudden death. Tsitsyura did have the chance to keep Vityaz alive, but he fired against the hugely impressive Moisevich.

SKA will now prepare to face Spartak in Moscow on Monday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 17:00 local time.

Match protocol:

Vityaz – SKA – 2:3 SO (2:0, 0:0, 0:2, 0:0 – 0:1)

Goals:

1:0 Voronkov (Ezhov, Popov), 03.06

2:0 Tsitsyura (Ugolnikov, Valentsov), 07.26

2:1 Galchenyuk (Nikishin, Khairullin), 45.29 PPG

2:2 Sapego (Tolchinsky, Vorobyov), 54.06

2:3 Galchenyuk, 65.00 SO

Goalkeepers: Dorozhko – Serebryakov/Moisevich

Shots: 41 – 83

Shots on target: 17 – 42