SKA ended their regular season performance on a winning note, beating Sochi in an away game.
REACHING
The game turned out spectacular. And it cannot be said that the first and last lines of the rating came together. Hockey players scored 11 goals. Roman Rotenberg’s team constantly had to be in the role of catching up. After the first period, the hosts were leading with a score of 2:1, and by the middle of the third period, they were leading 5:2. The doubles were scored by Kirill Petkov and Artur Tyanulin. Timur Khafizov widened the gap.
As part of the army team, Evgeny Ketov and Nikita Gusev stood out. Seeing amazing calm on the guest bench, only the lazy did not think, maybe we agreed? It is clear that the result of the match will not decide anything either for SKA or for Sochi. Maybe the people of St. Petersburg decided to give a vacation to the “younger brother” from him? Everyone knows about the “special relationship” between the clubs.
EMPTY DOOR
But all the conspiracy theories collapsed when the SKA coach decided to remove the goalkeeper and go on the attack with six of them. Simple practice? Yes, but not 10 minutes before the end of the period. With Dmitry Yashkin on the patch, such a move was successful. The striker simply broke through the Sochi defense and successfully framed the stick.
A couple of minutes – and the hosts, exhausted by another attack, were forced to break the rules. The army team immediately re-implemented plan B and easily picked up one more puck, playing 6 against 4. Yashkin again “digged” into the patch and scored. And this is Dmitry’s 40th goal of the season. He became the second hockey player in league history to score at least 40 goals in the KHL regular season. The record belongs to Sergey Mozyakin (48 goals).
5:4. Just one minute was not enough for Sochi to win. The Leopards had a hard time both psychologically and physically – SKA piled on with all their might, and while Yashkin created traffic at the gate, Alexander Volkov accurately clicked. 5:5. The match went to extra time.
The outcome of the match was predetermined by the elimination of Kirill Petkov. Once in the majority, the army team played like clockwork, in a corporate style. Nikita Gusev is the author of the winning goal. 5:6 (OT). Victory S.K.A.
REGULATORY WINNER
After the match, the Petrograders were awarded the Continental Cup. It is worth noting that the team, contrary to superstition, touched the trophy. Now SKA is leaving for a short break before the playoffs. The opponent in the first round will be Dynamo Minsk or Spartak.
Yes, SKA abruptly changed the game in Sochi. But five missed goals should definitely strain the coaching staff. Roman Rotenberg’s claim that St. Petersburg has the strongest goalkeeping line is highly debatable.
Dmitry Nikolaev confidently celebrated the regular season, but this is his first season in the KHL. He has no experience in the Gagarin Cup playoffs. A fighter who hasn’t smelled gunpowder is always a risk.
Retired from Severstal Cherepovets, Vladislav Podyapolsky participated in the Gagarin Cup. In recent years, he has shown himself well in relegation matches as part of the Lynxes. But is the best club ready to face the highest challenge, even if it has a shield of excellent defenders in front of it? I will not answer this question definitively. But what is clear is that it takes time to realize that you are going for the Cup, nothing less.
Well, we will see all the possibilities of SKA in the playoffs. There is not much to wait. In the meantime, we congratulate the team of the Neva army with the Continental Cup. It’s a great achievement with such a tight schedule and a two-point system.
