SKA closes in

Western Conference semi-finals, Day 4
(4) Atlant Moscow Region 1
(1) SKA St. Petersburg 5
SKA lead the series 3-1
SKA moved to within one game of the Western Conference final after an assured 5-1 win at Atlant.

After Saturday’s overtime loss in Mytishchi, SKA made no mistake on this occasion, opening up a 2-0 first period lead through Dmitry Kalinin and Alexander Kucheryavenko. Even the loss of experienced forward Fyodor Fedorov, thrown out of the game on 27:21 on a gross misconduct call, could not slow SKA’s progress as Igor Makarov made it 3-0 before the second intermission.

And in the final stanza Viktor Tikhonov and Patrick Thoresen added goals to their earlier assists before Patrick Zackrisson finally got Atlant on the scoresheet in the closing stages.

SKA leads the series 3-1 as the action heads back to Petersburg on Wednesday.

Gorovikov ties it up
(3) Dynamo Moscow 3
(2) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2
Series tied 2-2
Konstantin Gorovikov was Dynamo’s hero as the Moscow side tied up its series with Torpedo at 2-2. The experienced forward got the winner on 57:11, clinching a 3-2 win on the night and leveling the series.

As befits a topsy-turvy series, Monday’s game ebbed and flowed dramatically: Dynamo struck first with Dominik Granak’s powerplay effort on 16:52, but trailed after a quick brace for Torpedo in the second session when Alexei Ugarov and Dmitry Makarov did the damage.

But Jakub Klepis tied the game early in the third, and Gorovikov’s power-play strike ensured there would be nothing between the sides before Wednesday’s game in Nizhny Novgorod.