SKA St. Petersburg vs Vladivostok

The first period finished 0–0, but the shot clock told a lopsided story: Admiral outshot SKA 14–2 in the opening frame. Artemiy Pleshkov kept the hosts level with 14 first-period saves.

SKA broke through 56 seconds into the second period. Zakhar Bardakov opened the scoring at 20:56, finishing a feed from Nikita Zaitsev and Nikolay Goldobin at even strength.

At 24:05, Nikolay Chebykin doubled the lead on the power play — the only man-advantage goal of the night — with Valentin Zykov and Danil Aimurzin drawing assists.

Just 90 seconds later, Bardakov struck again. Zakhar Bardakov made it 3–0 at 25:35, assisted by Sergey Plotnikov and Sergey Sapego, effectively ending the contest before the midway point of the second period.

The third period passed without a goal. SKA killed off two minor penalties and held Admiral to just 15 shots in the final frame, none of which beat Pleshkov.

Bardakov's opening goal at 20:56 — the first shift of the second period — shattered what had been a stubborn Admiral resistance. Ivan Kulbakov had kept the visitors in the game through a dominant first period, but SKA's quick strike early in P2 forced Admiral to open up, which created space for the Chebykin and second Bardakov goals within the next 4:39.

• Zakhar Bardakov (SKA) — Player of the Match. Two goals (20:56, 25:35) on four shots, including the game-winner. Showed excellent timing and finishing in tight spaces around the net.
• Artemiy Pleshkov (SKA) — 43-save shutout. Made 14 saves in the first period alone when Admiral controlled play. Perfect save percentage (43/43).
• Nikolay Chebykin (SKA) — One power-play goal at 24:05, demonstrating SKA's second-unit depth.
• Ivan Kulbakov (Admiral) — Faced 21 shots, stopped 18 (85.7%). Kept Admiral in the game during the first period but couldn't withstand SKA's second-period barrage.

Despite the 3–0 scoreline, Admiral outshot SKA 43–21 in shots on goal and 84–40 in total shot attempts. The gap was widest in the first period (14–2 SOG). Pleshkov's 43-save shutout was the decisive individual performance — Admiral generated enough offence to win but couldn't solve the SKA goaltender. SKA's power play went 1/2 while Admiral went 0/3 with the man advantage. Faceoffs were nearly even (23–24 SKA).

SKA picked up their first win of the Puchkov Tournament after falling to Barys in a shootout on 27 August (2–1 B). Admiral, who had beaten SKA-VMF 2–1 on the tournament's opening day, fell to 1-1 in the round-robin. The four-team pre-season tournament, hosted at SKA Arena from 27–30 August, also features Barys Astana and SKA-VMF. SKA's next pre-season fixture is against SKA-VMF on 30 August, while Admiral face Barys on the same day.

A game that looked close on paper for 20 minutes was decided by a five-minute explosion of finishing and a world-class goaltending performance. Admiral will be encouraged by their territorial dominance; SKA by their efficiency in front of goal and Pleshkov's form ahead of the KHL season.