SKA - Avtomobilist. Introducing the opponents

CURRENT STANDINGS

5. SKA, 35 matches, 19 regulation victories, 1 overtime victory, 1 penalty shootout victory, 9 regulation defeats, 1 overtime defeat, 4 penalty shootout defeats, goal difference 107-80, 47 points

11. Avtomobilist, 33 matches, 13 regulation victories, 3 overtime victories, 1 penalty shootout victory, 10 regulation defeats, 3 overtime defeats, 3 penalty shootout defeats, goal difference 94-90, 40 points

FORM

Avtomobilist have arrived in Saint Petersburg on the back of nine consecutive defeats. Thanks to a positive start to the 2020/2021 KHL regular season, the Yekaterinburg-based outfit do still find themselves occupying sixth position of the Eastern Conference, however their dreadful recent form has raised plenty of questions which need answering. In their first two games of this particular away series, Avtomobilist only scored a combined total of one goal against Ak Bars Kazan and Avangard Omsk, going down by scores of 0:2 and 1:3 respectively. Nevertheless, in a boost to Avtomobilist’s Canadian coach Bill Peters, talented 28-year-old forward Sergei Shumakov (8+5) joined from Avangard yesterday and is poised to make his debut for his new team this evening.

Former SKA forward and Russian ice hockey superstar Pavel Datsyuk, now 42 years of age, is still going strong as he is Avtomobilist’s second top scorer with 23 (7+16) points on the board. Alexei Makeev (forward, 17+13), Anatoly Golyshev (forward, 9+12), ex-Vancouner Canucks player Nikita Tryamkin (defenseman, 2+7) and Zakhar Arzamastsev (defenseman, 0+3) are some of the most recognisable faces in Avtomobilist’s strong squad. Veteran Canadian defenseman Charles Genoway has been productive from the blue line for the Ural club with 13 (3+10) points to his name.

SKA have been in somewhat patchy form recently. In the Urals, our players fell to Metallurg Magnitogorsk (1:2) and thrashed Traktor Chelyabinsk (5:1) with a powerful display, however they then subsequently contrived to suffer a shock penalty shootout defeat to lowly Dinamo Riga (3:4 SO) on Monday at home. Following that disappointing result, SKA certainly do need to get back on track against Avtomobilist, especially considering that Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and Dynamo Moscow are breathing hard down their necks in the battle for second spot of the Western Conference.

POINTS LEADERS IN LAST FIVE MATCHES

SKA

Vladimir Tkachyov: 5 (0+5) points

Igor Ozhiganov: 4 (1+3) points

Anton Burdasov: 3 (3+0) points

AVTOMOBILIST

Brooks Macek: 2 (2+0) points

Peter Holland: 2 (0+2) points

Pavel Datsyuk: 1 (1+0) points

Jakub Kovar has been a consistent figure for Avtomobilist between the pipes. To date, the 32-year-old Czech goalkeeper has made 30 appearances in the current campaign, registering a 91.9% save percentage, a goals against average of 2.40, three shutouts and even four assists. Vladimir Galkin (4 matches, 85.3%, 4.13) and Vladislav Gross (2 matches, 91.2%, 2.35) rarely take to the ice in place of Kovar.

For our team, Mikhail Berdin has competed in the highest number of games so far, recording a save percentage of 91.2% and a 2.51 goals against average. Magnus Hellberg (11 matches, 93.1%, 2.12, 1 shutout), Alexander Samonov (8 matches, 91.0%, 2.54) and Yaroslav Askarov (7 matches, 96.2%, 0.96, 1 shutout) have also played in KHL matches for SKA this season, however it must be noted that the latter is unavailable for selection as he continues to train with the junior Russian national team ahead of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.

WHERE TO WATCH

The match is scheduled to begin at the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace at 19:30 local time. KHL TV, KHL TV HD and Channel 78 will show the game on television in Russia, whereas you can purchase a live video on the KHL’s official website worldwide. Text updates will be available on our Twitter account.