Sakhalin Sharks lost to HC Kapitan in the final match of 2022

The day before, on December 23, the Sakhalin Sharks played their final match in 2022. In the away game, they opposed the leader of the Silver Division, HC Kapitan Stupino. A day earlier, the hosts celebrated the victory with a score of 6:2. Today, the Sharks led twice in three goals, but missed the advantage. This was reported in the press service of the hockey club.

The coaching staff of the islanders significantly changed the composition of the team both before the game and during the match. Changes occurred in three fives. The place in the center of the leader was taken by Anton Danilov, and Stanislav Pylaev got the place at the gate from the first minutes. The result of the change was that the Sharks kicked off the game.

At the start of the game, the leading three of the Sakhalin team had a quick goal – Alexander Morozov shot from a distance, and Timofey Barsukov corrected the puck into the goal. Less than two minutes later, the Sharks scored the second goal – Danil Pivchulin received a projectile in front of the goal and outplayed the Kapitan’s goalkeeper Pavel Romashkin in close combat. Even before the break, the islanders scored the third goal – Alexander Morozov went through all the zones with the puck and made a allowance for Alexander Kokarev, who opened the scoring for his goals in the MHL with a long-range shot. A three-goal lead in the first period is a great start.

However, the day before, the Sharks had squandered their two-goal lead after the opening stretch of the game. “Captain” tried to repeat the comeback – Alexei Vasilkov and Ivan Bondar scored alternately. The game became nervous again. The advantage in shots went to the “Captain” – 17:12 in the second period against 9:21 in the first segment of the game. Still, the Sakhalin Sharks did not allow the score to be equalized, but rather increased the lead – Alexander Morozov completed the majority draw with his 35th goal for the club in his career, reaching the club’s current record.

At the start of the third period, the Sharks regained their three-goal lead again – Anton Danilov scored with Timofey Barsukov’s and Alexander Morozov’s assists. The first three Sakhalin residents acted very effectively. However, the “Captain” did not give up and saved the ending – in the final ten minutes, Alexei Vasilkov scored a hat-trick, and Alexander Kulagin also scored a goal at his own expense. The leaders of the “Silver” division again saved the game and took it to overtime.

Here, the Sharks unsuccessfully knocked on the gates of Kaptian’s goalkeeper Pavel Romashkin – he even gave them a chance to play in the majority, but there were no more goals. They did not appear in the series of post-match shots either. Roman Rybakov came out to defend the gates of the Sakhalin team – he parried 4 out of 5 shots, but Alexander Kulagin’s goal was enough for the “Captain” to win.

The Sakhalin Sharks take only one point in Stupino and finish the 2022 calendar year in fifth place in the Silver Division with 34 points in 33 games. The team has a short break ahead. Island hockey players will play the next matches on home ice.

On January 3 and 4, the Far East derby will be held in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk – the Sakhalin Sharks on the ice of the Arena City complex will play against the Amur Tigers from Khabarovsk. The first game starts at 17:00, the second game starts at 14:00. Entrance for fans is free.