SKA defeated Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo with a score of 2:5 in the third match of the Gagarin Cup playoff series

Today the first home match of the Gagarin Cup playoff series took place for Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo. After a two-game away series in St. Petersburg, the score in the best-of-four series was set at 1:1. On the home ice of Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg SKA taught Torpedo an unpleasant lesson, confidently beating our team with a score of 2:5.

The scoring in the match was opened by the guests in the middle of the first period – Nikishin closed the blue line and shot at the goal from the left edge, the puck jumped over Galimov’s stick and slipped into Kulbakov’s “house”!

Nikishin’s puck was the only one left in the first period.

Statistics of the 1st period (Torpedo: SKA):

Throws: 9-24; Shots on target: 5-10; Goals: 0-1; Faceoffs: 5-11; Blocked shots: 7-3; Power moves: 6-5; Rebounds: 4-4; Losses: 2-1; Interceptions: 3-4; Attack time: 02:54-05:04; Penalty: 2-0

In the second period, SKA’s dominance continued, which led to two more goals scored by the guests.

In the 27th minute of the match, Stepan Falkovsky scored – he shot twice from the blue line within a few seconds, in the first case, Galimov put his stick to no avail, and in the second, a rebound from Larionov’s stick helped! The score in the match became 0:2 in favor of SKA.

6 minutes later, Vasily Glotov scored – Khairullin rolled the puck out from behind the goal, Glotov watched for the rebound from Varlakov’s skate and confidently converted his chance!

At the break the siren recorded the score 0:3 in favor of the St. Petersburg team.

Match statistics: Shots: 14-55; Shots on target: 10-23; Goals: 0-3; Throw-ins: 13-16; Blocked Shots: 18-3; Power moves: 14-8; Rebounds: 6-7; Losses: 5-4; Interceptions: 10-5; Attack time: 06:08-12:47; Penalty: 4-0.

2nd period statistics: Shots: 5-31; Shots on target: 5-13; Goals: 0-2; Faceoffs: 8-5; Blocked shots: 11-0; Power moves: 8-3; Rebounds: 2-3; Losses: 3-3; Interceptions: 7-1; Attack time: 03:14-07:43; Penalty: 2-0.

The third period turned out to be rich in moments.

At the very beginning of the period, the Nizhny Novgorod team managed to score a quick puck – Kovalenko shot hard from the front line from the left edge, the puck bounced off Serebryakov’s skate to Atanasov, who redirected the projectile into the net! The score became 1:3.

SKA’s response was not long in coming. Five minutes after the Torpedo puck, Alexander Kadeikin scored – Belevich made a mistake in his zone, Gritsyuk played back with Vorobyov and rolled to the nickel, and Kadeikin sent the puck to the goal! The score became 1:4.

Five minutes before the final siren, the Nizhny Novgorod team distinguished itself again – the Torpedo team did a great job on a delayed penalty, Silaev received the puck from Yan and threw it at the goal, Serebryakov deflected the shot to Firstov, who was accurate on the finish! 2:4 in the match.

With the score 2:4 in favor of SKA, Torpedo head coach Igor Larionov decided to remove the goalkeeper and release a sixth field player, which led to the guests’ 5th goal – an own goal by Torpedo! Kulbakov went to the bench, Goncharuk made an extremely unsuccessful back pass, the puck jumped over his teammate’s stick and ended up in his own net! Galchenyuk was the last player from St. Petersburg to touch the puck.

The final siren recorded the defeat of our team with a score of 2:5. The score in the series became 1:2 in favor of St. Petersburg SKA.

Match statistics: Shots: 34-73; Shots on target: 20-34; Goals: 2-5; Faceoffs: 21-29; Blocked shots: 19-8; Power moves: 20-13; Rebounds: 7-10; Losses: 8-4; Interceptions: 14-9; Attack time: 11:40-18:59; Penalty: 8-4

Statistics of the 3rd period: Shots: 20-18; Shots on target: 10-11; Goals: 2-2; Faceoffs: 8-13; Blocked shots: 1-5; Power moves: 6-5; Rebounds: 1-3; Losses: 3-0; Interceptions: 4-4; Attack time: 05:32-04:33; Penalty: 4-4

The fourth game of the series will also be held in Nizhny Novgorod on March 9, 2024. We believe in the team!