SKA is a Russian hockey club from St. Petersburg. Founded in 1946. Lokomotiv is a Russian hockey club from Yaroslavl. Founded in 1959. In March, the two clubs will meet on the ice in the playoffs for the Gagarin Cup.
On March 13, 15, 17, 19, matches between the SKA and Lokomotiv hockey teams will take place.
SKA. Review of previous games
SKA played the first stage of the playoffs with Spartak uncertainly. 6 games were played between the teams to determine the winner. Here are the results of the SKA - Spartak match (0: 2; 2: 3; 5: 2; 3: 2; 2: 1; 2: 1). SKA had problems for 2 games, and Alexander Kozhevnikov assumed that Yaroslavl Lokomotiv would be the favorite of the meetings, because SKA had chaos at the game and there was no team played.
At the beginning of the meetings with Spartak, the observers were betting that SKA would demolish the red and whites in 4 games and would not notice, but everything went wrong and had to play 6 matches to find the leader. Therefore, the game with Spartak should benefit SKA, they must draw conclusions and mobilize, because it is better to go through the first stage with problems and learn a lesson in order to approach the series of games with Lokomotiv more responsibly.
The first game took place on February 26 this time with a score of 0: 2 "Spartak" became the leader. Both goals were scored in the first third of the game, by R. Ganzl and M. Karsums.
The second game took place on February 28th. First, SKA took the initiative with 2 goals in the second third of the game. The authors of the pucks R. Rukavishnikov and A. Barabanov. But everything changed in the third period, Spartak made three goals and became the leader of the meeting, they were scored by D. Kalinin, I. Talaluev, M. Karsums. The third flew in five seconds before the end. This game became the most intriguing, there was an interesting reaction from the bench, it seems that they did not understand what was happening there at all. The previous coach, O. Znarka, would have raised the pace, started making changes of players and tried to seize the initiative, or at least make the outcome of the meeting a draw. But Vorobyov can be understood before he trained Metallurg in a smaller rotation and it was a little easier to manage. And in SKA, they especially put pressure on the coaches, V. Bykov, A. Nazarov could not stay at the club for a long time, and O. Znarok, who made the team, became a tired man.
The third game was a turning point. It took place on March 2. "Spartak" scores 2 goals, authors A. Fedorov and A. Zlobin. SKA makes 5 pucks, authors N. Gusev, V. Gavrikov, J. Koskiranta.
The fourth game took place on March 4th. In regulation time, 2 goals were scored for each team, so there was overtime and SKA scored the puck, the result is 3: 2.
The fifth game (6.03) ended 2: 1 in favor of SKA.
The sixth game (8.03) was the final meeting with the "red-whites" 2: 1 in the standings of "SKA".
"Locomotive". Review of previous games
The first stage Lokomotiv played against Sochi. Sochi in the KHL five seasons and met 18 times with the railroad, 12 games remained with Lokomotiv and therefore they were initially considered favorites of the meeting. The result of 6 games (4: 3; 3: 0; 2: 3; 1: 3; 3: 0; 5: 2).
The first game took place on February 25, at the start there were no dangerous moments, the teams looked closely at each other. The first puck entered the goal in the eighth minute from the "Sochi" striker K. Kapustin, the second goal was again from Yokipakka, "Lokomotiv" in the first twenty minutes was able to convert only 1 goal, the author S. Kronwall. The meeting was tense and in the main time the score was 3: 3. Everything was decided by overtime, the decisive goal was designed by N. Kovalenko.
The second game took place on February 27 with only one goal. 3: 0 in favor of Lokomotiv. Authors: S. Kronvall, R. Rafikov, D. Apalkov.
The third game took place on March 1st. There was already a turning point here, because Lokomotiv was away and lost 3: 2, in the main time the score was 2: 2, the decisive puck was drawn by the Sochi striker Andrey Altybarmakyan.
The fourth game (March 3) was again played in the south of Russia and again unsuccessful for Lokomotiv. It was a key game, if Lokomotiv wins, then the series would go completely to Kvartalnov. But the initiative was intercepted by Sergei Zubov. The outcome of the meeting is 1: 3. From the first minutes of the meeting, "Sochi" attacked well and converted 1 goal in the first period. In the second period the score is 1: 2. In the third dvadtsatiminutke Lokomotiv had an opportunity to level the score when B. Kozun shot, but hit the released goalkeeper of Sochi.
The fifth game (March 5) has already taken place at home and the walls of the club have helped. The final score is 3: 0, the authors of the pucks were: Kozun, Kayumov, Apalkov.
The sixth game (March 7) was played in Sochi, in the previous round Lokomotiv won a dry win. Now there is only one meeting left to win, and it is completed, the score is large and victorious - 5: 2. In Sochi, goals were scored by Rosen and Bakosh, at Lokomotiv: Misul, Kraskovsky (2 goals), Apalkov, Nakladal.
Lokomotiv showed a good result, but they are now losing the best player in the first round of the playoffs. Captain Staffan Cronvall with a leg injury was eliminated before the end of the season. Kronwall managed to score 3 goals against HC Sochi and make 3 assists. During the 6th meeting, he was hit with a puck unsuccessfully, and now even if Lokomotiv passes before the final the captain does not have time to recover, A. Yelesin will play in his place in the match against SKA.
SKA - Lokomotiv
Based on the first encounters, it is clear that the opponents are of approximately equal forces. SKA has a slack line-up, Lokomotiv has a retired captain, both teams played six matches against the previous teams. The last time Lokomotiv beat SKA in the playoffs was in 2014 and is ready to win again and now it has every chance.
The first two games are played, here are the results:
The first game. On March 13, at 19:30, the first match of the conference semifinals took place in St. Petersburg. SKA entered the ice unchanged, for Lokomotiv A. Elesin and E. Korotkov took the place of S. Kronvall and V. Kartayev. In the first dvadtsatiminutke there were no dangerous moments, only the hosts owned the puck a little more. In the second period SKA already started attacking, but the score was never opened. The third part of the game took place in the same spirit and no one had a clear advantage, they attacked mainly from a distance. In the third period at one point Lokomotiv remains in the minority, and on 47 minutes David Rundblad scored the puck.
The second game took place on March 15 at the same time, in the same place. For “Yaroslavl” the negative moment consisted not so much in defeat as in the fact that they were unable to throw the “railroad workers” into the gates. And this is probably why in the second meeting Lokomotiv concedes 6 goals, but still scores 1 cherished goal. First, SKA scored, Maltsev scored it, a little later Kayumov scores and the score is leveled. On this, more and more goals from Lokomotiv did not follow, SKA continued to act, the authors of the following goals were: Gusev, Byvaltsev, Koskiranta, Datsyuk, Tikhonov. The result of the meeting is 6: 1.
They may have lost in the game, but not in a fight. At the end, Alexander Yelesin and Nail Yakupov collided at the side, Yelesin struck a couple of punches with his fist, after which they were disengaged by the judges. There are two more meetings ahead of us on March 17, 19, and these two meetings will take place already at home with Yaroslavl, so maybe the native walls will help Yaroslavl in these two games?
