SKA - Salavat Yulaev - 1:4

In the opening home match of the 2018/2019 KHL season, SKA failed to beat HC Salavat Yulaev Ufa at the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace, dropping a disappointing 1:4 defeat. Following the loss against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod on Monday, head coach Ilya Vorobyov made a few changes to the line-up, notably bringing Nikolai Prokhorkin and Vladislav Gavrikov back. Magnus Hellberg and Andrei Kareev were the starting goaltenders.

During an entertaining first period, SKA broke the deadlock, as Nikolai Prokhorkin slotted the puck over the line after Andrei Kuzmenko had twisted with the puck deep inside the attacking zone. However, in the second, former SKA forward Anton Burdasov equalised for Salavat on the powerplay with a firm drive from the right faceoff circle.

Unfortunately, the same player sent a powerful one timer in on the doorstep early in the third, before Dmitry Kugryshev took advantage of another powerplay and Filip Larsen hit the empty net in the final minute. 1:4, SKA lost to Salavat Yulaev at home.

Match protocol:

SKA - Salavat Yulaev - 1:4 (1:0, 0:1, 0:3)

Goals:

1:0 Prokhorkin (Kuzmenko), 08.42

1:1 Burdasov (Larsen, Tkachyov), 22.49

1:2 Burdasov (Khokhryakov), 42.51

1:3 Kugryshev (Larsen, Hartikainen), 44.35

1:4 Larsen (Zharkov), 58.21

Goalkeepers: Hellberg - Kareev

Shots on target: 38 - 19

Faceoffs: 35 - 23

Hits: 17 - 11

Penalty minutes: 6 - 8

Referees: Bondar, Romasko

08.09.2018.