The Army Derby took place in Moscow as part of the The Firsts Cup, and CSKA won that encounter. The rivals clash in St. Petersburg now. Our lineup remained steady, with Dmitry Gamzin getting the start in goal. The 23-year-old goaltender marked his 100th career KHL appearance.
A tight, but rather dull first period. Nazar Privalov created the highlight of the night. He made a nice spin-o-rama move off the boards to shake the defenseman and drove the net, but the SKA goalie denied him his first KHL goal. The Army Men took control of the game in the second period. CSKA put a lot of pressure in the offensive zone, and it paid off. Dmitri Buchelnikov opened the scoring with a power-play rocket, and Privalov buried a long-awaited goal late in the period. Following a won face-off in the offensive zone, Ivan Drozdov fired a shot that deflected slightly off Nazar and found the back of the net. The 17-year-old forward became the youngest goal-scorer in CSKA’s KHL history. After the break, the intensity ramped up. Two minutes into the period, SKA scored a goal that looked just like our second one. Winning the draw and shooting. Shortly after, CSKA had to kill off a two-minute penalty, but our fans never really panicked. Late in the game, Maksim Sorkin sealed the deal with a beautiful rebound goal while falling down. A win in the derby!
