Jaskin’s OT winner gives SKA the early advantage. March 16 playoffs
Torpedo frustrated SKA for long periods of this game, and missed a great chance to get ahead in the second period. Vladislav Firstov’s late goal then sent us to overtime, but Dmitrij Jaskin won the series opener for the home team.
SKA St. Petersburg 2 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 OT (0-0, 0-0, 1-1, 1-0)
(SKA leads the series 1-0)
For much of the season, Igor Larionov’s team has been noted for its commitment to attacking hockey. Before the first puck was dropped, Larionov himself admitted that he had little interest in winning games 1-0. Today, though, we saw a different side of Torpedo: the visitor played a cautious, disciplined defensive game with a view to slowing the progress of SKA’s powerful offense.
The first period illustrated the rival game plans. SKA had the bulk of the possession, but ran into a defensive wall. Coming the other way, Torpedo relied on a counterattacking game. The upshot was something of a stalemate: the teams were goalless at the first intermission and the two goalies had just 14 saves to make between them.
The second period was also goalless, but Torpedo had a great chance to break the deadlock late in the session. Vladislav Firstov’s breakaway was halted by Alexander Nikishin’s trip and the officials awarded a penalty shot. However, Alexei Kruchinin was unable to take advantage. Torpedo’s top scorer in the regular season was only playing his second playoff game after injury, and the former SKA forward fired his effort over the crossbar as the game remained deadlocked.
Jolted by its difficulties in the second period, SKA came out at the start of the third looking to raise the tempo. Damir Zhafyarov fashioned a great chance for Vasily Glotov right at the start of the frame, only for Ivan Kulbakov to make the save. Marat Khairullin also had a decent chance early on, then Nikolai Prokhorkin finally broke the deadlock. For once, Torpedo’s defense left the forward open and Andrei Pedan’s pass from the blue line picked him out. Prokhorkin took advantage, beating Kulbakov from close range to put the home team in front.
However, that was not the end of the story. With two minutes to play, Firstov grabbed a dramatic equalizer. Young Bogdan Konyushkov won possession in his own zone and cleared the puck to Denis Yan. The forward released Firstov into the SKA zone and he went clear to beat Dmitry Nikolayev and take the game into overtime.
The visitor had a great chance to win it at the start of the extras. SKA’s Igor Ozhiganov took a hooking penalty, and Torpedo twice tested Nikolayev. First, Nikolai Kovalenko set up Vasily Atanasov in front of the net, but the youngster’s effort was saved. Then Firstov spotted a chance to score a ‘Michigan’, but the home goalie spread himself to make the save.
When SKA returned to full strength, it quickly settled the issue in its favor. Dmitrij Jaskin, who was denied a potential winning goal late in the third period, got one here. He won an attacking face-off, brought the puck forward himself, and squeezed a low shot under Kulbakov’s pad to give SKA the early initiative in the series.
