SKA returned home to start a four game home stand on Monday. They started off the week with a 3-0 win against Medvescak in which they played without Ilya Kovalchuk and Kevin Dallman. Dmitry Kalinin scored twice and Roman Cervenka added a goal to help Alexander Salak earn the first shutout of the season. Wednesday was a game against Dinamo Minsk, and they were still without Kovalchuk and Dallman (Dallman would miss all four games this week). This time, they were also without Kalinin for the game, but none of those would matter, as they took home a 5-1 win, thanks to goals by Andrei Kuteikin, Vadim Shipachyov, Viktor Tikhonov, Evgeny Skachkov, and Evgeny Ketov. Ilya Ezhov earned the win in this game, allowing only a Geoff Platt goal. In a battle of two hot goaltenders on Friday, it was Salak who earned the upper hand on Jeff Glass, as Glass would be chased out in the second period as SKA beat Spartak 4-1. Spartak opened the scoring on the strength of an Alexei Krutov goal in the first period. However, it was all SKA in the second period, as Maxim Chudinov and Tony Martensson would score, but it was Kovalchuk making an impact in his return, scoring two goals, the last one chasing Glass from the game. The Sunday game against Donbass would not turn out so well, as Donbass would jump out to a 3-0 lead by the midway point of the game, with Maxim Yakutsenya scoring twice and Randy Robitaille adding a goal for the Ukranian squad. Patrick Thoresen would pull SKA within one, as he scored both goals. However, an empty net goal by Evgeny Dadonov would seal the deal for Donbass and hand SKA their first defeat of the season. Ezhov was in net for the loss.
SKA hits the road this week, as they play on Tuesday at Medvescak, Friday at Dynamo Moscow, and Sunday at Vityaz.
