Perhaps every observer should have seen it coming, but the absence of SKA Saint Petersburg’s talisman D Alexander Nikishin (CAR, 69th overall, 2020 NHL Entry Draft) has his club in trouble in a manner possibly not anticipated. Still yet to return from his Game 5 injury against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, Nikishin’s team is in big trouble now. A turnover-prone Game 2 performance against Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg saw them surrender 3 goals to 3 different goalscorers (including the eventual GWG by former Ottawa Senator Stéphane Da Costa in the second period) and drop a 3-1 decision. There simply was no room for optimism, as they lost both of the first two games with home ice advantage.

Head coach Roman Rotenberg’s squad would take to the road to face down their Eastern Conference foes today, hoping to get themselves back in the series. They fended off some tenacious attacking efforts by the home squad in the first period and would end the first frame with a 10-7 SOG advantage. They would arguably out-play Avtomobilist in the second frame, but would concede the game’s first goal, with Anatoly Golyshev beating SKA G Nikita Sererbryakov with a low shot. The favored team also would send themselves to the box far too often, which limited their ability to sustain pressure. In the third frame, New Jersey Devils prospect Arseni Gritsyuk would level the score 1-1, which would eventually send the game to OT.

This extra frame did see some back and forth in terms of possession control and chances but Avtomobilist created some particularly scary looks. The game would firmly be in the palms of their hands, which eventually yielded the W for them, as Curtis Valk would tuck one past Serebryakov from the slot, giving Avtomobilist a 2-1 victory and a 3-0 lead in the series. This situation is very dire for SKA now. With Nikishin still effectively being day-to-day, they may be able to get him back, but they will likely need to procure a result for that door to be open/to buy some time for him as I cannot imagine him being ready for Saturday given the time he has missed and how scary the injury looked. Perhaps not placing him on the injury list was simply an attempt to maintain optimism. Nevertheless, the team looks both directionless and toothless without their leading point scorer and essential minutes eater on the ice. A sweep does not appear out of the question. We shall see if they defy expectations, however.