HC Sochi - SKA. Match day

Having won two games in a row against Lada and Lokomotiv, SKA have made the trip to Southern Russia to take on HC Sochi.

This is Sochi's second season in the KHL since being founded, and they are gradually asserting themselves as a force to be reckoned with. After making the playoffs last campaign they have improved even further this year, and currently sit above SKA in sixth place of the Western Conference. The southerners have won four out of their past matches, and are coming off the back of confident wins over HC Spartak Moscow and Jokerit 2:1 and 5:2 respectively. Their confidence should be high for this match, and goaltender Konstantin Barulin has been solid in their net holding a 92.9% saves percentage. Their top scorer is Swedish forward Andre Petterson with 21 points (11+10), while ex SKA defenceman Alexey Semyonov has five assists.

SKA have won three out of their previous four fixtures, and are slowly picking up points. Despite those victories the team still finds itself in ninth place of the conference table, and today's match in Sochi is indeed against one of SKA's main opponents for a playoff berth. Captain Ilya Kovalchuk has been in great form of late taking nine points (3+6) from five matches, and Mikko Koskinen has been excellent in net.

This will be the second meeting between these two teams this season, with Sochi beating SKA in Saint Petersburg 2:1.

The HC Sochi - SKA match will begin at 19.30 local time inside the Bolshoi Ice Dome, Sochi. Life78 and KHL TV HD will both broadcast the game live, and you can keep up to date with events either by following our online match centre or our official Twitter account.