PET 4:2 SBA | SKA St. Petersburg - HC Slovan Bratislava (KHL)

KHL

Avangard – Neftekhimik	4:2 (end)	\|	Barys – Salavat Yulaev	3:2 (end)	\|	HC Yugra – Traktor	3:4 (after OT)
Avtomobilist – Metallurg M	5:4 (1:0 after SO)	\|	Cherepovets – Riga	0:1 (end)	\|	Lokomotiv – CSKA	1:3 (end)
Mytishchi – Lev	0:4 (end)	\|	SKA St. Petersburg – HC Slovan	4:2 (end)	\|	Spartak – Khabarovsk	1:0 (end)
Dinamo Minsk – Admiral	3:4 (0:1 after SO)	\|	Donbass – Novosibirsk	1:2 (end)	\|	Medvescak – Novokuznetsk	4:3 (1:0 after SO)

final

SKA St. Petersburg Rusko

4:2 (1:1, 2:0, 1:1)

HC Slovan Bratislava

Friday 01.11.2013, 16:30 • KHL

		Thank you for following the game with us! (18:42:52)
		For SKA this was their 5th consecutive win while Slovan now lost 5 of their last 6 matches!
		SKA defended their lead clever during the last 20 minutes and in the end the league leaders won deserved 4-2 and earned all three points against the bottom side Slovan. Shots on goal: SKA 12 (29) – Slovan 7 (18)
	60:00	Game over.
	59:29	The guests had no chance to pull out their goalie and they don't really believe in a comeback themselves anymore.
	59:00	Slovan try everything to cut the deficit another time in these last minutes but SKA defend with all players!
	57:06	The guests are back at full strength.
	56:11	Tony Martensson tried to battle in the puck from short distance after Slovan goalie Janus allowed a rebound but two brilliant pad saves by Janus afterwards kept Slovan in the match!
	55:06	Mario Bliznak (Slovan) gets two minutes for high-sticking against Artemy Panarin deep inside the SKA third.
	53:37	A nice solo by Slovan's Kutlak was not rewarded when his shot from within the slot was deflected wide by the skates of a defender.
	52:21	Huge double chance for SKA's Artemy Panarin! First he tried it with a powerful shot from the left circle before the rebound landed in front of his skates again. The following shot from within the slot was also blocked by Janus!
	50:48	A back hander by Zdenek Kutlak from short distance hits the crossbar!
	50:00	The game goes back and forth currently without really big opportunities.
	47:32	A nice solo by Artemy Panarin but his pass from behind the net back to Vadim Shipachyov didn't bring the wished result as his team colleague missed the puck!
	46:00	SKA are getting more active again and try to decide the game asap.
	43:45	The guests from Slovakia try to use the momentum and cut the deficit another time. They are playing with early forechecking now and force SKA back into their own third.
	43:03	Goal for Slovan! After Salak allowed a rebound against a blue line shot by Martin Skoula it was MILAN BARTOVIC who cut the deficit to two in power play – or better said his left leg did all the work for him as the puck hit him before he could react! The referees decided to look at the situation again but there was no kicking motion and the goal counts! Assisted by Martin Skoula and Juraj Mikus.
	42:45	Andrei Sigaryov (SKA) gets two minutes for slashing.
	42:18	Goal for SKA! Is this already the decision? ALEXEI PONIKAROVSKY received the puck at the left circle with his back towards the net, turned around and left the last defender behind him, skated towards the net and scored the 4-1 with a back hander into the left top corner! What a goal! Assisted by Alexei Semenov.
	41:30	SKA are already in full controll of the match again in these first minutes of the third period; Slovan are just defending.
	40:01	Start of 3rd period.
		SKA were the clearly more active team in the middle period and had a high number of good scoring opportunities but only were able to use two of them to make it 3-1 with a double within one minute! Shots on goal: SKA – Slovan
	40:00	2nd period finished.
	38:46	The guests are back at full strength.
	38:18	A one-timer by Patrick Thoresen from just right to the Slovan net went just wide!
	37:32	Another long clearance by Slovan and SKA head coach Jukka Jalonen shows clearly that he is not happy with his team's power play.
	37:03	A long clearance by the guests and SKA have to restart their attack behind their own net.
	36:46	Tomas Mojzis (Slovan) gets two minutes for throwing the puck out of the playing area.
	36:05	Another dangerous combinations by the guests in front of the SKA net but this time the defense cleared the situation early.
	33:58	Finally an offensive effort by Slovan again. Tomas Netik and Andrej Stastny appeared both in front of the SKA net and then the back hander by Netik went just wide!
	32:50	The hosts are defending their two-goal lead easily and wait for counters to have more space in the Slovan third but so far the Slovakians avoid to risk too much.
	31:30	After an attack over the left wing Janus avoided the worst case and covered the puck up before SKA could have looked for another cross-pass in front of his net!
	29:00	It doesn't look like the timeout had much effect. SKA are continuing to dominate the game with a lot of puck possession inside the Slovan third.
	26:54	The guests react immidiately and take a timeout!
	26:54	Goal for SKA! Exactly one minute after their last goal SKA make it 3-1! After a perfect cross-pass towards the right post ARTEMY PANARIN fired the puck into the right bottom corner with a one-timer! Absolutely no chance for Janus! Bitter for the guests who looked very solid during the first period. Assisted by Alexander Kucheryavenko and Alexei Ponikarovsky.
	25:54	Goal for SKA! A precise cross-pass by Ilya Kovalchuk from within the slot came towards the left post from where VADIM SHIPACHYOV battled the puck in after Janus allowed a rebound against Tony Martensson. 2-1 SKA in power play! Assisted by Ilya Kovalchuk and Tony Martensson.
	25:23	Two minute team penatly against Slovan for having too many players on the ice. There was a bit of confusion when first Andrej Stastny sat down in the penalty box and then his seat was taken by Mario Bliznak.
	25:07	A high shot by Stajnoch from within the neutral zone almost surprised Salak but then the puck went wide past the left post.
	23:48	Slovan needed three played to steal the puck from the stick of Evgeny Skachkov but failed to get more than a distance shot on goal from within the neutral zone afterwards...
	21:52	Suddenly Tony Martensson fired a one-timer from just right to the Slovan net but his one-timer went wide past the left bottom corner – the pass had come from Evgeny Ryasensky.
	21:30	SKA had a lot of puck possession due to the man advantage at the begin of the middle period but failed to get a decent shot on goal. Now Slovan are back at full strength.
	20:01	Start of 2nd period.
		In an rather even first period SKA only became more dominant in the last five minutes. Slovan looked dangerous during every of their attacks and did only need three minutes to tie the early SKA lead! Shots on goal: SKA 8 – Slovan 5
	20:00	1st period finished.
	19:30	Michal Sersen (Slovan) gets two minutes for hooking. So far SKA are 0 for 1 in power play this afternoon.
	19:22	Evgeny Ryasensky won the puck on the left wing, skated towards the net and tried to deke out Janus from short distance but the Slovan goalie won the battle between the two players!
	18:27	Break away opportunity for Slovan but Michal Vondrka failed to beat Salak in the 1-on-1 situation!
	18:18	The guests are back at full strength.
	17:27	SKA defender Kalinin was left alone at the left circle and tried it with a one-timer towards the right bottom corner but a pad save by Janus avoided another goal against Slovan!
	17:05	A one-timer by Tikhonov from within the slot is blocked to the side by Janus!
	16:18	Milan Bartovic (Slovan) gets two minutes for slashing.
	16:18	Fast attack by the hosts but after a pass by Ilya Kovalchuk towards the right wing Roman Cervenka was stopped unfair by an opponent before he could get a shot on goal!
	15:49	Great idea by the SKA offense. After a won face off at the left circle they immidiately skated towards Janus and tried to deke him out but the following shot went wide!
	15:50	Icing by Slovan.
	15:27	Roman Cervenka skated behind the Slovan net and for a moment his team mate Vadim Shipachyov was in an excellent scoring posiiton but he needed to long to give him a pass and the chance was over as fast as it came.
	13:50	A shot by Skoula from the right circle is blocked to the side with an easy pad save by Salak.
	12:00	Currently there are barely shots on goal. Both teams are working well in defense.
	10:45	The home side from St. Petersburg increases its efforts and almost restores the lead but a shot from short dsitances only hits the upper part of the left goal post!
	10:18	Insecurity by Slovan goalie Janus after a harmless shot on goal – he almost let through the puck during a pad save.
	08:10	Goal for Slovan! Out of the blue the guests from Slovakia are able to tie the game! Nobody attacked Roman Kukumberg behind the SKA net so that he could skate around the left post and give a brilliant cross-pass to TOMAS NETIK who finished the job by deflecting the puck into the wide open net past the chanceless Salak! Assisted by Roman Kukumberg and Michel Miklik.
	07:11	Vadim Shipachyov stole the puck from the stick of an opponent inside the neutral zone and immidiately skated towards the net but his back hander from short distance was blocked to the side by Janus!
	04:48	Goal for SKA! After a precise cross-pass from the right circle by Alexei Ponikarovsky it was ARTEMY PANARIN who fired a one-timer into the left top corner being on his kneews! What a great goal for the early 1-0 SKA lead! Assisted by Alexei Ponikarovsky.
	04:00	Slovan, not known for their goal scoring qualities this season, start surprisingly offensive.
	02:48	On the other side of the ice Salak is forced to make his first save after a shot from the left circle. Both teams start with great forechecking into this game.
	01:09	With a one-timer from within the slot SKA's Roman Cervenka has the first opportunity of the game.
	00:01	Game started.
		The national anthems of Russia and Slovakia have been played and the game is about to start.
		Starting lineups: SKA St. Petersburg: Salak (Nalimov) – Alexandrov, Ryasensky, Kalinin, Kuteikin, Semenov, Chudinov, Yudin – Martensson, Tikhonov, Thoresen, Kovalchuk, Cervenka, Shipachyov, Kucheryavenko, Ponikarovsky, Panarin, Makarov, Sigaryov, Skachkov Slovan Bratislava: Janus (Kopriva) – Sersen, Skoula, Sigalet, Mojzis, Stajnoch, Kutlak – Bartovic, J. Mikus, Radivojevic, Miklik, Bliznak, Vondrka, Kukumberg, Netik, Stastny, T. Mikus, Mraz, Matousek, Dano, Hudacek Referees: Gusev, Odins – Dedyulya, Mikhel
		Just as last year SKA St. Petersburg are having an extraordinary KHL campaign and lead the league with 53 points in 24 games – 18:6 wins. Their biggest – and currently only – rival in the West are Dynamo Moscow who won the last two editions of the Gagarin Cup playoffs and who collected 50 points by now. Today SKA are once more the big favourites when they receive bottom team Slovan Bratislava who are 14th and thus last in the West after only collecting 23 points in 21 games and already have a 10 point deficit towards the playoff spots. SKA underlined their high ambitions to stay the leaders in the league with four consecutive wins against Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (3-1), Dinamo Riga (4-3 SO), CSKA Moscow (5-2) and Lev Prague (5-0). For Slovan the end of October was rather disappointing. After losing four games in a row against Dinamo Riga (3-4), CSKA Moscow (2-3) – both at home – and against Severstal Cherepovets (0-2) and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (1-2) – on the road – they were able to beat at least their last opponents of the month when they faced Atlant Mytishchi (1-0). SKA's topscorers are Roman Cervenka (26 pts), Ilya Kovalchuk (24 pts) and Viktor Tikhonov (20 pts). Their best scoring defender is Dmitry Kalinin (12 pts). For Slovan Michel Miklik and Milan Bartovic (both 16 pts) along with Michal Vondrka (12 pts) were the most successful forwards by now while Michal Sersen (8 pts) is the leading defender. SKA co-starters Alexander Salak and Ilya Ezhov were able to convince in more or less every game by now. Even third goalie Dmitry Shikin had two strong performances so far. Slovan goaltending wasn't an issue really with co-starters Miroslav Kopriva and Jaroslav Janus having decent numbers. Especially Kopriva could convince with a 91.6 save percentage and a 2.31 goals against average but his team mates weren't able to help him in the scoring department so that he has a 3-6 win-loss record. If SKA can get another expected win or if Slovan surprise them, we'll see soon!
		Welcome. Game starts at 15:30 GMT / 16:30 CET / 19:30 MSK which is also the local time in St. Petersburg.

Commentary by

Dennis Mende

Goals & lineups Match log

Goals and assists: 5. Panarin (Ponikarovsky), 26. Shipachyov (Kovalchuk, Martensson), 27. Panarin (Kucheryavenko, Ponikarovsky), 43. Ponikarovsky (Semenov) – 9. Netik (Kukumberg, Miklik), 44. Bartovic (Skoula)

SKA St. Petersburg: Salak (Nalimov) – Alexandrov, Ryasensky, Kalinin, Kuteikin, Semenov, Chudinov, Yudin – Martensson, Tikhonov, Thoresen, Kovalchuk, Cervenka, Shipachyov, Kucheryavenko, Ponikarovsky, Panarin, Makarov, Sigaryov, Skachkov

HC Slovan Bratislava: Janus (Kopriva) – Sersen, Skoula, Sigalet, Mojzis, Stajnoch, Kutlak – Bartovic, J. Mikus, Radivojevic, Miklik, Bliznak, Vondrka, Kukumberg, Netik, Stastny, T. Mikus, Mraz, Matousek, Dano, Hudacek

Referees: Gusev, Odins – Dedyulya, Mikhel

1st period
	04:48
	08:10
	16:18
	19:30
1st intermission
2nd period
	25:23
	25:54
	26:54
	36:46
2nd intermission
3rd period
	42:18
	42:45
	43:03
	55:06
Final