KHL - Playoffs Round 1 - SKA v Severstal

Game 1 - March 4 - SKA v Severstal 4-3 OT

A red-hot favorite pushed into overtime by a rank outsider? A game locked at 3-3 until a moment of brilliance produces a golden goal? For Pavel Datsyuk, it might all have felt familiar.
One week ago, Datsyuk, along with 14 SKA team-mates and head coach Oleg Znarok, were in exactly this situation in Korea as Russia edged the victory in its gold medal game against Germany at the Olympics. The experience came in handy, as Severstal produced a battling performance here that made a mockery of pre-game predictions that this was a foregone conclusion for the defending champion. Datsyuk finally broke the visitor’s resistance in the eighth minute of overtime. SKA was on the power play, Anton Belov saw his shot saved and Nikita Gusev found Datsyuk behind the net. This time, the Magic Man decided it was time to do it himself; bursting out on the wraparound he overcame Julius Hudacek and gave the Petersburg team a hard-fought victory.
That was by no means all the drama. Severstal led for 12 minutes of this game, and refused to bow to Vadim Shipachyov’s late goal. Instead, Oleg Yashin grabbed a last minute equalizer, finishing over Mikko Koskinen’s shoulder after Dmitry Kagarlitsky led a rush into the SKA zone. In the end, that merely delayed SKA’s success – but it provided a stark reminder that Severstal won’t just make up the numbers in this series.
Perhaps it didn’t need to be so complicated for the host, though. The first period saw SKA ease through the gears, and take the lead on its first power play when Ilya Kovalchuk fired home a Patrick Thoresen pass. But the second session produced a sensation. SKA got tangled up in each other’s skates while emerging from centre ice, and the turnaround saw Kagarlitsky fire home the tying goal. Then Kovalchuk lost the puck in the Severstal zone and Yury Trubachyov got the chance of a breakaway. He ended up behind the net, but forced the puck back to Igor Geraskin. His shot took a deflection off Shipachyov’s stick and flew into the angle of post and crossbar; the video confirmed that it crossed the line on its way and Severstal had a shock lead.
The third period was old enough to make home fans a little anxious before Slava Voynov wound up a fearsome slapshot from the point to beat Hudacek and make it 2-2. When Shipachyov got SKA’s third in the 57^th minute, firing home a Kovalchuk feed as a Severstal penalty came to an end, that felt like the game-winner. But the Steelmen had one more card to play before SKA could open up its defense of the Gagarin Cup with a victory.
Game 2 - March 5 - SKA v Severstal 7-4

Two goals apiece from Pavel Datsyuk and Nikita Gusev led SKA to a convincing win over Severstal – but once again the Steelmen posed some questions of the defending champion.
Dmitry Kagarlitsky also scored twice, albeit in a losing cause, and once again SKA had to recover from falling behind before taking control in the latter stages of the game. Kagarlitsky opened the scoring in the fourth minute, working well to retrieve the puck and fire in a shot past the unsighted Mikko Koskinen after Alexander Bumagin’s effort was pushed clear of the net. Datsyuk cancelled that one out, given far too much time to convert Anton Belov’s pass before the first intermission, and two goals in a minute saw the home team jump to a 3-1 lead thanks to Gusev and Viktor Tikhonov – but Severstal wasn’t done.
Kagarlitsky’s one-on-one breakout reduced the arrears, then a face-off in the SKA zone enabled Alexei Ugarov to poach the tying goal. After a tense evening last time out, was SKA facing another battle?
The home team reacted fast to settle any nerves. Alexander Barabanov reinstated the lead, Gusev’s one-timer made it 5-3. Then came a moment of classic Datsyuk, dancing around Vishnevsky before firing home the sixth SKA goal of the evening. That was the highlight of the game, but there were two more goals to come as Ilya Kablukov and Matej Stransky traded tallies in the last 10 minutes. SKA goes to Cherepovets in control of the series – but Severstal can point to reasons for optimism when it gets to home ice.
Game 3 - March 7 - Severstal v SKA 1-2 OT

SKA remains on course for a sweep of Severstal – but once again, the Steelmen gave the defending champion plenty to think about before succumbing in overtime.
The length and volume of the celebrations among SKA’s traveling fans after Jarno Koskiranta got the winner was lively testament to how hard Severstal pushed its illustrious opponent. Not for the first time, SKA finds itself on the brink of a series sweep not so much by virtue of dominant hockey but thanks to its ability to conjure a way to win in difficult circumstances.
This time, it was Koskiranta who made the difference. The Finn isn’t always first on the list of SKA’s big-name forwards, but he took up a perfect position in front of Julius Hudacek to divert Ilya Kovalchuk’s shot into the net and win the game.
Overall, though, this was a frustrating evening for the visitor. In the opening stanza, SKA had much the better of the play but could not find a way past Hudacek. After the break, things changed: a 5-on-3 power play pushed the momentum towards Severstal, and eventually the home team got its break. The opening goal, in the last minute of the second period, won’t win any beauty contests, but it was a tribute to the hard work of the home team. Dmitry Kagarlitsky refused to give up on a lost cause, chasing the puck back and hassling Andrei Zubarev into an error on his own blue line. Onto the puck like lightning, Kagarlitsky raced away to beat Mikko Koskinen and give Severstal the lead. It was midway through the third period before SKA finally found an answer to Hudacek. The Petersburg team was dominant, but it needed Maxim Karpov’s contribution 10 minutes from time to level the scores. As SKA attacked from deep, the former Traktor and Dynamo man exchanged passes with Nikita Gusev before shooting home the tying goal from the right-hand face-off spot.
The direction of play continued almost exclusively in one direction – in overtime SKA had seven shots to one and limited Severstal to just 26 seconds of time on offense – as the defending champion dragged itself to yet another post-season victory.
Game 4 - March 8 - Severstal v SKA 0-2

SKA wrapped up a sweep of Severstal with a 2-0 victory in Cherepovets. Oleg Znarok’s team was given a tough test by its opponent throughout the series, but ultimately demonstrated an extra touch of class in front of goal to secure a comfortable passage to a Conference semi-final, most likely against Lokomotiv.
After finding it tough to put Severstal away in the first three games, SKA looked to take control of this meeting quickly. The Army Men dominated the first period and were good value for their lead. The opening goal came from the Datsyuk-Gusev combination. Pavel brought the puck out from the corner, Nikita was waiting on the doorstep and Datsyuk’s pass presented Gusev with a straightforward chance to beat Julius Hudacek.
Sergei Shirokov got his first goal of this year’s playoffs to make it 2-0 midway through the second period. Anton Belov won the puck in centre ice, Sergei Plotnikov quickly fed it into the Severstal zone and Shirokov streaked clear of the defense to put his team in control of the game.
With eight minutes to play, Severstal believed it had a lifeline after Matej Stransky put the puck in Mikko Koskinen’s net. However, a video review showed that the home team had six men on the ice at the time of the play and the goal was ruled out. That wasn’t the end of Severstal’s chances: the home team had a 5-on-3 power play, and then saw Belov ejected from the game late on for a high hit. But SKA’s penalty kill was solid, and when Stransky took a major for slashing in the 59^th minute, Severstal’s hopes were over.