Game 61: Sunday, March 2nd

SKA Saint Petersburg 1-2 Dinamo Minsk

Game 62: Tuesday, March 4th

SKA Saint Petersburg 3-2 CSKA Moscow (OT)

Game 63: Saturday, March 8th

SKA Saint Petersburg 4-2 Metallurg Magnitogorsk

After a few days to dust off another frustrating loss to Dynamo Moscow, SKA took to Belarus for a road matchup. Alas, more frustration and some embarrassment awaited them there. They went wire-to-wire with Dinamo Minsk but were not able to finish enough chances and lost a second-straight one goal game in regulation. SKA would get some relief from a visit to the Russian capital to play against their perpetual archnemeses in the form of Army Derby adversaries CSKA Moscow. This was a tense matchup in which a lot of activity occurred in the first period, with SKA trailing first but having an answer for everything CSKA brought to them. Ultimately, D/Carolina Hurricanes prospect Alexander Nikishin would be the hero, as he scored the GWG in OT, in a “You can’t script that” moment. This game was also massive for Flyers prospect Yegor Zavragin, as he stopped 33 out of 35 shots against in an all too important victory down the stretch against the club’s traditional rival. He fared well against Dinamo and was not at fault for the defeat, but a win like this definitely must have felt vindicating for him after head coach Roman Rotenberg seemed to suggest that he has lost some faith in the young netminder.

After the conclusion of this quick two-game road swing, SKA returned home and had a date with the defending Gagarin Cup champions. This game was significant in that it marked the return of winger/soon-to-be New Jersey Devil Arseni Gritsyuk after a lengthy time off due to injury. The winger tallied an apple in the matchup, which was a more dominant win over Metallurg Magnitogorsk than the final scoreline would have it appear. While he was not their best player on the ice (I would give Nikishin that nod, as he had yet another multi-point game with the game’s opening goal and 2 assists), it is clear that Gritsyuk had an impact and will bring back some much needed firepower and chemistry to their forward group, particularly considering that we pretty much know now that Evgeny Kuznetsov is not returning this season after his concussion. While Spartak does have a game in hand in the race for the divisional crown, SKA is just two points behind them, and have reasons to believe in themselves down the stretch after getting a much needed piece back and having pulled off two very significant wins in a row. One has to fancy their chances of catching up to Spartak in the race.

Next game:

Tomorrow (Tuesday, March 11th – 12:30 PM: vs. Dinamo Minsk)