Hockey. KHL. Minsk “Dynamo” missed four unanswered goals from SKA and allowed St. Petersburg to take the lead in the series

Minsk “Dynamo” lost to SKA from St. Petersburg in the third match of the 1/8 finals of the KHL playoffs.

Dynamo (Minsk) – SKA (St. Petersburg) – 0:4 (0:2, 0:1, 0:1)

5th of March. Minsk. “Minsk-Arena”. 15086 spectators.

Dynamo: Shostak; Barberio – Deryabin, Martynov – Spooner – Kozun; Sapego – Pozhigan, Alistrov – Gorbunov – Shumakov; Korobov – Sushko, Demchenko – Pinchuk – Kuznetsov; Shinkevich – Kovgorenya, Mosalev – Pyshkaylo – Demkov.

SKA: Nikolaev; Pedan – Ozhiganov, Gusev – Khusnutdinov – Yashkin; Nikishin – Falkovsky, Zhafyarov – Vorobyov – Khairullin; Kamalov – Pashnin, Zykov – Bardakov – Volkov; Grebenshchikov – Glotov – Komarov; Koromyslov, Popugaev.

Washers: 0:1 – Khusnutdinov (Ozhiganov, Falkovsky, 9.30). 0:2 – Komarov (Grebenshchikov, 16.07). 0:3 – Nikishin (Gusev, 28.36). 0:4 – Glotov (Falkovsky, 50.37).

Penalty: 8 – 21.

Throws: 26 (5+15+6) – 29 (15+5+9).

Series progress: SKA – Dynamo Minsk – 2-1 (4:6, 5:2, 4:0).

After an emotional second match in St. Petersburg, Dynamo Minsk lost Nick Merkley and Cedric Paquette due to disqualifications. Egor Martynov replaced Paquette in the first line, Sergey Shumakov appeared in the second three instead of Merkley.

Several tough power moves at the start of the meeting set the mood for the match. SKA carried out the first shifts from a position of strength, not bad piled on the positions of the Minskers. The guests could not quickly reach the goal, in this they were prevented by the removal of Alexander Volkov. Dynamo wasted its first majority, and soon after the return of the fifth SKA player to the ice, the hosts were already left with a lack of field players – Mark Barberio broke the rules and that’s when the goal did not take long. Igor Ozhiganov charged from the blue line, Marat Khusnutdinov put his stick under the defender’s throw, the puck struck Dmitry Yashkin’s leg and fell into the goal.

Again, the Dynamo players could bounce back in a five-on-four format, but the majority of the team of Craig Woodcroft, for whom the game became the 300th in the KHL, did not work at all in the first period. The missed opportunity very quickly came back to haunt Dynamo – SKA soon strengthened its advantage with a goal by Nikita Komarov in equal compositions. I must say that equal compositions in the first period have become a rarity. In the end, the teams were especially divided and gave the judges a lot of opportunities to work. At some point, SKA was left with three against five, the Minskers staged an assault on the opponent’s goal, but the guests kept the gates locked.

The second period also turned out to be rich in events – first, the Minskers scored a goal, which was canceled by the judges after two video reviews. Then SKA scored their third goal. Alexander Nikishin distinguished himself, breaking through to the opponent’s goal with Ilya Shinkevich hanging on his shoulders. Shortly after that, Nikishin also tried to score a lacrosse goal – it didn’t work out.

The affairs of the Minskers were not hopeless, there were enough chances. They had at least Brandon Kozun one-on-one, and a five-minute majority at the end of the period. But all to no avail – SKA goalkeeper Dmitry Nikolaev acted flawlessly. The third period started with Vasily Glotov’s goal. Minsk residents tried to change something, but Glotov’s puck remained the last in the game – 4:0, SKA took the lead in the series.

The fourth match will be held on Tuesday also at the Minsk-Arena and starts at 19.30. The fifth meeting will take place in St. Petersburg on March 9, the sixth and seventh matches, if necessary, will be played on March 11 and 13.

Craig Woodcroft, Dynamo Minsk head coach:

— I think that not all players were ready to play. There were individual errors, most did not work. Unrealized moments became decisive in the game. How much did the disqualifications affect the game? Of course, the absence of the guys affected the game, they are experienced players, the lack of “chemistry” in the special teams affected the effectiveness. Cancellation of Demkov’s puck? If it had been counted, the score would have become 1:2, it would have been a different game, because we could get more confidence in our abilities at that moment.