Ilya Kovalchuk struggles in first game since return to KHL

Ilya Kovalchuk has said he doesn't think playing in the KHL will dull his skills. (Martin Rose/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

This probably wasn't how Ilya Kovalchuk pictured it all going down.

Although his SKA St. Petersburg club rolled to a convincing 5-1 win over Avangard Omsk on Friday night, the erstwhile Devil was held pointless in his less-than-triumphant return to the KHL.

Typical enigmatic Russian, am I right?

Kovalchuk put just one shot on net for SKA. He did, however, kick one into the net at the end of the game, "seemingly out of frustration," according to rsport.com.