KHL
Ak Bars – SKA St. Petersburg 0:1 (end)
final
Ak Bars Kazan
0:1 (0:1, 0:0, 0:0)
SKA St. Petersburg
Monday 13.04.2015, 17:30 • Tatneft Arena • KHL
     
    There is the final buzzer, and SKA Saint Petersburg have taken a huge 1:0 victory against Ak Bars to take a massive 2:0 series lead! Their tactics were perfect today, not giving Ak Bars much joy at all. Anton Burdasov netted SKA's only goal, with netminder Mikko Koskinen grabbing a shutout for himself. Thanks for following the game with us, and see you again soon for more thrilling KHL action! (20:57:36)
     
    60:00
    Game over.
     
    59:17
    Ak Bars have now pulled goaltender Anders Nilsson for the extra skater, and also take a timeout! It's their last roll of the dice with less than a minute left!
     
    57:59
    Artyom Lukoyanov takes on a hopeful slap shot from the left faceoff circle, and he ends up hitting the near post! Mikko Koskinen lost sight of that one!
     
    57:17
    The puck is dug out from behind SKA's net, and as everyone piles on top of one another the referees eventually blow on the play. SKA's defence has been rock solid blocking shots all over the place today, and have to stay strong for a few minutes more!
     
    54:57
    Cervenka! Taking up the loose puck off a poor Ak Bars turnover Roman Cervenka closes down, and with Anders Nilsson powerless he slaps over the crossbar! SKA are the ones looking the more likely right now!
     
    52:40
    Having been let off in a big way Ak Bars are back at full strength. Already around only seven minutes remain inside the Tatneft Arena, and the hosts are running out of time to make something happen!
     
    51:23
    Panarin! Just how didn't he score, wow! The puck is brilliantly played around to the left side of the crease, Artemiy Panarin had a completely open net to aim at, but he can fire only into the far post! He'll be having nightmares about that one!
     
    50:40
    And Evgeniy Medvedev has now turned from hero to villain, being sent for a two minute sit down as a result of slashing against Anton Burdasov of SKA
     
    50:29
    Medvedev! What a skate that was from the home defenceman! Evgeniy Medvedev moves in from the right, goes up close, and pokes inches wide of the far corner! It would have been one to savour!
     
    47:08
    Mikhail Varnakov spins behind SKA's net, tries to get a backhanded attempt away, and away defencemen get their sticks out to prevent it from sliding through
     
    45:02
    Both teams' penalty kills are working with perfect effect so far today, and it's a five on five hockey game again
     
    43:02
    A very untimely penalty has been called against Ak Bars here and they aren't happy about it all, with their captain Alexander Svitov being penalised for goaltender interference
     
    42:01
    SKA's Roman Cervenka skates in beyond the blue line, wrists with a marker blocking the goalkeeper's view, however his wrister flies well wide of the left post
     
    41:13
    The puck has now dropped for the third, and crucial, period! Ak Bars have to give their all to get back on level terms, with SKA in the box seat at he moment!
     
    40:01
    Start of 3rd period.
     
    Statistics after the first two periods:

    Shots: 34-31
    Shots on target: 15-19
    Faceoffs: 25-17
    Hits: 8-8
    Penalty minutes: 6-8
     
    40:00
    2nd period finished.
     
    39:56
    As Ak Bars also are back to full strength the second period is drawing to its close, with SKA knocking the puck around confidently as they still lead!
     
    37:56
    SKA will be very relieved to be at full strength again. And now Ak Bars have taken an unwanted penalty against their names, as for interference experienced defenceman Evgeniy Medvedev has been penalised
    Commentary by

    Shaun Nicolaides

    Goals & lineups Match log
    Goals and assists: 20. Burdasov (Rukavishnikov)

    Ak Bars Kazan: Nilsson (Garipov)- Medvedev, Brookbank, Glukhov, Vrana, Varnakov- Korneev, Nikulin, Moller, Azevedo, Mirnov- Zakharchuk, Rylov, Lukoyanov, Svitov, Koltsov- Musin, Paigin, Arkhipov, Burmistrov, Petrov
    SKA St. Petersburg: Koskinen (Ezhov)- N Belov, A Belov, Thoresen, Martensson, Kovalchuk- Y Alexandrov, Kuteikin, Panarin, Shipachyov, Dadonov- Khafizullin, Rukavishnikov, Tikhonov, Ericsson, Cervenka- Yudin, Barabanov, Burdasov, Kablukov, Ponikarovskiy
    Referees: Jyri Ronn, Antonin Jerabek, Alexander Zakharenkov, Sergey Shelyanin
    Attendance: 8285