Cruel defeat at favourites St. Petersburg

SKA St. Petersburg – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 7:2 (1:0, 3:1, 3:1)

Goals: 17. Panarin (Shchipachov, Dadonov), 23. Martensson, 28. Panarin, 29. Kadeikin (Yermakov), 46. Červenka (t.s.), 50. Panarin, 50. Červenka (Thoresen, Martenson) – 24. Vondrka (Štajnoch), 60. Baranka (Bližňák)

Lineups:
SKA: Ivannikov – Ryasensky, Khafizullin, Alexandrov, Kuteikin, Chudinov, Yermankov – Tikhonov, Ericssson, Kovalchuk (C) – Dadonov, Shipachyov, Panarin – Thoresen, Martensson, Červenka – Ponikarovsky, Ketov, Kadeikin
HC SLOVAN: Janus (29. Backlund) – Sersen (A), Baranka, Štajnoch, Sigalet, Brejčák, Starosta, Foster – Nagy (A), Murley, Vondrka – Netík, Surový, Bartovič (C) – Jeglič, Tičar, Hudáček – Ölvecký, Šťastný, Lunter

Early in the game, Matikainen's forces repelled mild pressure from the home team. Janus was first called into action in the 3rd minute, dealing with Panarin's shot, then squeezing out Chudinov's shot a minute later. Play then began to even out, and Slovan started to have their say. Our fourth line held the puck in SKA's zone for an extended period, then Murley's attack came on , and it was the American forward who had the first real chance after Vondrka's pass from behind the net. Surový had a chance to make a powerplay count in the 13th, reaching the rebound off Sigalet's shot, but he hit the post, and Ivannikov managed to smother the puck. The SKA goalie was also on hand to save when Slovene forward Rok Tičar found himself in the clear. After a number of chances had gone begging, punishment came in the form of a successful powerplay for the hosts. Panarin beat Janus after a fine combination – 1:0. Nagy had a chance to equalize, but neither his shot nor the follow ups resulted in a goal.

Slovan had an unfortunate start to the middle period. A dubious challenge on Tičar allowed SKA to counter-attack, and after a series of blocks the puck ended up in the net off Martensson – 2:0. But Slovan soon shook off the goal, pressing SKA into their own third, and when Štajnoch flipped in a speculative effort from afar, Vondrka's perfect touch put the puck past Ivannikov – 2:1. In the 28th minute Surový fluffed a major chance, and lightning struck twice at the other end. First Dadanov followed up to tap in after Panarin's shot, then Kadeikin's shot immediately after caused Janus to be replaced by Backlund – 4:1. 

Despite the unfavourable scoreline, Slovan refused to give in, ever struggling to find a second goal. This resulted in a number of SKA counter-attacks, forcing Backlund to be on guard. In a Slovan powerplay in  the 46th minute, a wayward pass from Vondrka allowed Červenka to break, and Canadian defenseman Foster's only choice was to foul him. In the resulting penalty shot, the Czech forward gave Backlund no chance - 5:1. In the 50th, Panarin completed his hat-trick, and Slovan found themselves 6:1 down. But not even that was enough for SKA - in the same minute, Červenka's accurate shot once again gave Backlund no hope - 7:1. Ivan Baranka did manage a consolation goal for Slovan right at the end, but the scoreline speaks for itself - 7:2.

Petri Matikainen: We had quite a nervy start to the game, but we survived the opening minutes without conceding. After that we played very well in the first period, we created plenty of chances; the game was even.  In the second period we controlled the game well in the attacking third, but unfortunately we made a few errors, which SKA made the most of - every chance they had, they scored a goal. We're not happy with the way we played the third period. We wanted to be active, but we made mistakes which led to more goals. Today we've lost heavily, but I can take some positives from the game, which we have to build on in the games to come.