(1) SKA St. Petersburg 2 2OT
(3) Dynamo Moscow 1
Dynamo leads the series 3-2
Viktor Tikhonov’s 10th goal of the play-offs may yet become his team’s most important of the season after the forward tied game five of the Western Conference Final with barely six minutes left to play. His one-timer ripped past Alexander Yeryomenko, giving the goalie no chance and snatching a series-clinching victory from Dynamo’s grasp.
Although SKA couldn’t wrap up the win in regulation – although Tony Martensson came close in the last minute – the Petersburg side completed the job in overtime when Tikhonov struck again deep into the second additional period.
The Moscow men had come close to winning it in regulation, with Alexei Tsvetkov opening the scoring midway through the final period. The forward collected Alexei Sopin’s pass and launched a powerful shot which left the unsighted Ilya Ezhov no chance in the SKA goal.
Once into overtime, SKA had the better of the first period but was unable to find the winning goal. And in the final seconds, only the crossbar saved the Petersburg team from seeing its season ended by Konstantin Kasyanchuk’s shot. In the second added session, SKA was again the stronger team – with Dynamo running into penalty trouble and facing a long spell shorthanded as the physical exertions of the game took their toll.
Earlier, Dynamo had probably edged it in regulation. The defending champion created the first clear chance, with Sergei Konkov denied by a last-ditch intervention from Tikhonov during an early powerplay. The game remained fairly even, but Konstantin Kasyanchuk will have been frustrated not to give Dynamo the lead after intercepting a poor pass only to fail to beat Ezhov in a one-on-one. SKA’s best opening came late in the first session when Artemy Panarin picked out Mikhail Varnakov on the post, but the forward’s audacious attempt to fire a shot through his own legs lacked the precision to trouble Yeryomenko.
The second session continued in similar vein: SKA’s most promising opening came right at the end of a powerplay, with an overstretched Dynamo defense withstanding a dangerous 3-on-1 attack. Then, as Konstantin Gorovikov emerged from the sin-bin he found himself clean through on the SKA goal, but once again Ezhov covered his angles and the shot was off target.