No joy in Army Rivalry

25 October 2026

The second Army Rivalry of the campaign saw SKA once again come up short against an organised CSKA Moscow outfit, conceding a 1:3 home loss.

Sergei Sapego had given the packed SKA Arena crowd hope of a comeback with a rocket at the start of the third period. However, despite surviving a few hairy moments in the process, CSKA saw the game out professionally.

Following a goalless opening stanza, the Muscovites took a firm grip of proceedings in the second half of the second period.

Familiar face Dmitry Buchelnikov beat Sergei Ivanov with a snappy effort on the powerplay, before 17-year-old talent Nazar Privalov then deftly deflected Ivan Drozdov's attempt in.

Sapego then cut the deficit in half immediately after Nikita Nedopyokin had won a faceoff draw.

Nonetheless, with Vasily Glotov notably wasting a glorious opportunity with away goalkeeper Dmitry Gamzin stranded, our pressure failed to materialise into an equaliser and Maxim Sorkin subsequently iced it with a late rebound goal.

SKA will now prepare to host Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time.

Match protocol:

SKA - CSKA - 1:3 (0:0, 0:2, 1:1)

Goals:

0:1 Buchelnikov (Nesterov, Kovalenko), 32.50 PPG

0:2 Privalov (Drozdov, Kovalenko), 37.44

1:2 Sapego (Nedopyokin), 41.47

1:3 Sorkin (Samorukov, Kostin), 57.53

Goalkeepers: Ivanov - Gamzin

Shots: 58 - 45

Shots on target: 27 - 22

Faceoffs: 30 - 35