It’s a commonly known joke that SKA love their goalie controversies, and heading into the playoffs they’re faced with the tough decision of who to start between the pipes, Mikko Koskinen, Ilya Yezhov, or a combination of the two.
Vyacheslav Bykov and his staff have an unusual solution to their goaltending conundrum whereby each netminder seems to play in five or six-game stretches before the tablecloth is pulled and the other is given a starring role — much to the displeasure of the goaltenders involved. In fact, Bykov’s relationship with his goaltenders are unfriendly. He’s gone so far as to throw both Alexander Salak and Yevgeni Invannikov under the bus on live radio. Even 19-year-old silver medalist Igor Shestyorkin wasn’t immune from Bykov’s critical eye, prompting captain Ilya Kovalchuk to come to the defense of the goaltender on his debut.
With Yezhov coming back from injury and playing three straight games, it seemed like Bykov had slipped back into his old routine with his goaltenders. Yet, the season ended with Mikko Koskinen in net for the final game against Slovan Bratislava — a loss, however. Koskinen lost his last starts, including a 1-0 loss against Atlant. It seems that all that awaits Koskinen is Bykov’s doghouse. Yet, is it truly the right way to go?
Sure, SKA would not miss the playoffs if Yezhov, Salak or Ivannikov was still in net. You could argue that it was Yezhov’s time with Lada that got them into the playoffs over Dynamo Riga. Ilya Yezhov is certainly an elite goaltender in the KHL, but was deemed as the “weakest part” of SKA who again, collapsed in the playoffs.
St Petersburg native Yevgeni Ivannikov and Alexander Salak were meant to be a breath of fresh air through the season and playoffs, though this was more of playoff move than a regular season one, rebounding off Salak’s performance the season before. This fell through rather quickly. SKA’s leading defenseman, Alexei Semenov was traded to Vityaz. SKA collapsed, and soon enough Salak was booted out the door in favour of Mikko Koskinen. Mikko, still stuck in a tandem with Ivannikov, gently took the starting reins and has been a solid presence in net for the rest of the stretch.
Ilya Yezhov, who broke his foot right out the start, became a second thought to Mikko Koskinen and Igor Shesyorkin as SKA picked up the pace and began to close in on CSKA. Mikko Koskinen currently boasts a .923 sv% with a split of .921 with Sibir and .930 with SKA, and comfortably sits as the starter for SKA. The trade between SKA and Sibir is looking like one of the better trades of the year.
Koskinen is just in his second year in the KHL, yet has a .928 sv% in the playoffs. He has faced almost 100 fewer shots than the SKA goaltender at the time, Salak. He comes in healthy, with a height advantage of five inches and is just a couple years younger. Koskinen has fought for the starting position and has earned it. It’s only fair that he gets the nod for the playoffs, and that Bykov shouldn’t pin the black tail on Koskinen.
There is a case for Ilya Yezhov though. It’s hard to argue that he didn’t save SKA’s season. The case could even be made that Ilya Yezhov really wasn’t the reason why SKA collapsed in the playoffs, with a .933 sv% in the playoffs for the 12/13 series and facing 282 shots on goal. It is more than what Koskinen has seen, finishing the regular season with a .930 overall sv% with SKA. and .929 with Lada, a team that barely scraped the playoffs. It’s hard to argue that Ilya Yezhov has seen far more rubber in the playoffs than Koskinen and has been a staple to SKA’s regular season success. He’s also a fan favourite and, since coming back from a serious injury, has been solid in net with few flaws in his game.
There is also a case to be made for the “does it matter who’s in net?” theory. In this case, it might not. But with SKA’s offense-first system, the goaltender is the one who steals the games. With Artemy Panarin injured, SKA are not going to be able to score five goals and forget about defense. Whoever is in net — whether it is Koskinen or Yezhov — is going to have to steal games as they have done throughout the regular season. Considering their defensive struggles, whoever is in net is going to have to be a brick wall. It does matter, if Yezhov’s foot flares up and he sacrifices a game. That might just give an opponent like Sochi leeway into a four-game series.
Momentum can swing in a series and a two-game lead could easily be overturned and swung the other way. So who do you play with? Do you risk Ilya Yezhov and hope he has rehabbed to the best of abilities? Do you go with the sturdy, reliable, but less experienced Koskinen? Will Bykov and co. even let Koskinen see any action? Yezhov has been in net for all but the last game of the season. In a season where goalie narratives have swept through the league, whoever gets the call might just be the deciding factor in a playoff series.
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