Merkley's 9 shots, Shen's minute-61 winner: Dynamo Moscow 4-3 SKA after overtime

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Sergei Ivanov made 36 saves in the SKA net. His team still lost. Dynamo Moscow outshot SKA St. Petersburg 40-29 and took a 4-3 win after overtime at VTB Indoor Arena in Moscow, with Pavel Shen ending it 61 minutes in.

Dynamo needed less than ten minutes to build the lead. Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi struck at minute 2, assisted by Igor Ozhiganov, and Nick Merkley doubled it at minute 9 off Dylan Sikura's pass. The opening period was also the scrappiest: six suspensions, including two minutes for Shvets-Rogovoi at minute 20. SKA's Vladislav Syomin cut the gap to 2-1 at minute 30, assisted by Daniil Miromanov, and that stood as the halftime score.

The third period turned chaotic. Merkley's second of the night, set up by Maxim Letunov at minute 48, made it 3-1 — and SKA answered twice in three minutes. Matvei Korotky struck at 49, assisted by Alexei Maklyukov, and Vasily Atanasov levelled at 51 off Yegor Savikov. Level at 3-3, the game went to overtime, where Shen converted Luka Profaca's setup at minute 61 for 4-3.

Merkley was the sharpest skater on the ice: two goals on nine shots, zero penalty minutes. Shen added a goal and an assist with a plus-1. The power play told its own story — Dynamo converted 2/5 (40%), while SKA went 0/4 and never punished Dynamo's eight suspension minutes. Vladislav Podyapolsky made 26 saves at the other end, enough on a night when his goalmouth faced 29 shots.

SKA carried more of the puck, 52% to 48%, and got a 36-save night from their goalkeeper. None of it survived overtime. Moscow's number was 61.