Metallurg Novokuznetsk - SKA. Match day

SKA will continue their Siberian trip with a fixture against HC Metallurg Novokuznetsk.

Despite having proud traditions of producing some of Russia's best players, Metallurg Novokuznetsk have been experiencing much tougher days the past few seasons. With little resources at hand, the club are the KHL's perennial strugglers, almost always finishing the campaign in last place. Unfortunately for them, that doesn't look like changing any time soon, as they are cut adrift in 15th place of the Eastern Conference with only five wins in twenty two matches. Their squad is always made up of young, talented players, but the summer loss of star forward Kirill Kaprizov to Salavat Yulaev has taken its toll. With a meagre 37 goals, they indeed are the league's lowest scorers.

Nevertheless, Metallurg do have a promising goaltender among their ranks. 21 year old Andrei Kareev boasts an impressive 93.1 saves percentage, and recently made 37 saves in a 3:2 win against Spartak Moscow. Forward Kirill Semyonov has more points than anyone else on their team (12).

It was a difficult start to this away series for SKA, as the players came from behind to defeat a battling Sibir side 2:1 in overtime. Alexander Barabanov shone in that match, notching an assist and the game winning goal.

The Metallurg Novokuznetsk - SKA match will begin at 15.00 Moscow time. Life78 will broadcast live, and you can follow events live on our official Twitter account.