HC Sochi - SKA. Match day

SKA will begin the next KHL road trip with a match against HC Sochi in the Bolshoi Ice Dome, the main arena used for the 2014 Olympic Games.

Interestingly, these two teams have yet to meet in KHL play this season. The previous match was at August's Nikolai Puchkov tournament in Saint Petersburg, where SKA shut out Sochi 3:0. SKA can expect another challenging game against Sochi today, with the southerners battling for a KHL Gagarin Cup playoff berth. After 51 games Sochi find themselves out of the top eight in ninth place, just the one point behind Jokerit Helsinki. In need of points, Sochi have recovered from an early winter blip, winning their past three matches in a row against Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Traktor and Spartak Moscow. Belarusian forward Andrei Kostitsyn is their top scorer with 30 points (15+15), while first choice goaltender Konstantin Barulin holds a 92.5 saves percentage.

On Thursday, SKA saw their five match winning streak snapped by Jokerit, as the Finns triumphed 5:3 in Saint Petersburg. Nevertheless, CSKA also lost their last game, leaving SKA still four points clear in first place of the standings. Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals in that game, raising his season points total to an incredible 68 (27+41).

The Sochi - SKA game will begin at 19.30 local time. Life78 and KHL TV HD will both broadcast live, and you can follow events on our official Twitter account.