Dragons struggle with ruthless SKA
23 October 2024
Kunlun Red Star 0 SKA St. Petersburg 8
Do you think we upset this lot a couple of weeks ago? Our trip to St. Petersburg brought a spectacular 5-4 victory, but tonight SKA was in the mood for revenge. A devastating performance from the visitor saw the Dragons suffer a 0-8 mauling.
After a promising performance against Metallurg, Mikhail Kravets kept changes to a minimum. On defense, Jake Chelios replaced Yury Pautov. Kyle Keyser took over in goal, with Jeremy Smith rested completely and Konstantin Volkov named as back-up. Volkov spent time within the Petersburg organization and even suited-up as an understudy for SKA, but never got on the ice in the KHL before he joined Dynamo Moscow.
In some respects, the first period was more competitive than the scoreboard might suggest. There wasn’t much to choose between the teams in shots, nor attacking possession. However, SKA’s forwards were relentless in front of goal, creating clear-cut chances and burying them. Ivan Demidov was a constant threat, and goals from Sergei Plotnikov, Zakhar Bardakov and Vasily Glotov gave the visitor a commanding lead at the intermission.
After the break, Demidov’s third assist of the day saw Plotnikov on target again. With 25 minutes played, Volkov came off the bench to replace Keyser. But the visitor was clinical, scoring twice in two minutes to welcome a former clubmate to the game. Arseny Gritsyuk’s power play goal late in the frame padded the lead to 7-0.
Oddly, the Dragons actually outshot SKA 11-9 in that second period. Adam Clendening almost surprised Yegor Zavragin with a shot right off a face-off early in the frame, and later Tyler Graovac forced the visiting goalie into a good save. But we simply could not match the ruthless efficiency of the Petersburg offense on the night.
The third period was about damage limitation. Although there was no hope of saving the game, nobody wanted to be on the wrong end of a record scoreline. And, although Plotnikov completed his hat-trick midway through the session, SKA was unable to eclipse our previous heaviest loss at Avtomobilist in Oct. 2021. If you’re looking for a good omen, that defeat was followed by back-to-back wins: hopefully we can start a repeat of that on Friday against CSKA.
Where is Tyler Wong?
Working hard, trying to regain his best conditions