SKA - Barys. Introducing the opponents

CURRENT STANDINGS

5. SKA, 18 matches, 9 regulation victories, 1 overtime victory, 2 penalty shootout victories, 4 regulation defeats, 1 overtime defeat, 1 penalty shootout defeat, goal difference 59-40, 26 points

17. Barys, 18 matches, 4 regulation victories, 2 overtime victories, 1 penalty shootout victory, 9 regulation defeats, 1 overtime defeat, 1 penalty shootout defeat, goal difference 41-51, 16 points

FORM

This will be the second meeting between these two teams in the 2021/2022 KHL regular season. On October 8, Barys Nur-Sultan managed to beat SKA 3:0 in Kazakhstan, as two powerplay goals from Matthew Frattin and Nikita Mikhailis proved enough for the home team to emerge victorious. Swedish defenseman Olle Alsing subsequently iced it with a late empty-netter, while goaltender Joni Ortio stopped all 24 SKA shots he faced.

Nevertheless, it has been a mixed start to the campaign for Barys. Coached by Yury Mikhailis, the Kazakhs have struggled to gain any kind of momentum, failing to string together more than two wins in a row. As it stands, Barys have only won four matches in regulation time: 3:2 against Amur Khabarovsk (home), 6:3 over CSKA Moscow (away), 1:0 against Avangard Omsk (home) and 3:0 against SKA (home). Elite KHL defenseman Darren Dietz (6+6) and forwards Mikhailis (8+10) and Curtis Valk (5+12) are the only Barys players to have reached double figures in terms of points.

Barys like to compete in an aggressive, North American style of play, shooting on goal from any angle possible. This will be their third game of this particular road trip, with the Kazakh club having previously lost to Avangard in Balashikha (1:4) and beaten Kunlun Red Star Beijing in Mytishchi (2:1 SO).

Canadian defenseman Joe Morrow (2+1) will miss this match for Barys as a consequence of injury problems.

SKA will move into first position of the Western Conference with a victory this evening. In the previous match, our players just came up short against Jokerit Helsinki in Finland, conceding a slender 4:5 defeat in overtime after Mat Robinson, Joonas Kemppainen, Igor Ozhiganov and Andrei Kuzmenko had scored superb goals in regulation. Our team had previously confidently earned crucial wins against Salavat Yulaev Ufa (away, 5:0) and Dynamo Moscow (home, 5:3). At the moment, Anton Burdasov (9+10) and Andrei Kuzmenko (4+14) are our top scorers with 19 and 18 points on the board respectively. Ozhiganov has been particularly productive from the blue line with nine (3+6) points in 17 games.

29-year-old forward Nikita Gusev is expected to make his maiden appearance at the Ice Palace for SKA since recently rejoining our club.

GOALKEEPING STATISTICS

SKA

Lars Johansson: 13 appearances, 8 wins, 2 defeats, 279 saves made, save percentage 93.9%, goals against average 1.53, 5 shutouts

Alexander Samonov: 5 appearances, 2 wins, 2 defeats, 77 saves made, save percentage 84.6%, goals against average 4.37

Yaroslav Askarov: 4 appearances, 2 wins, 2 defeats, 62 saves made, save percentage 92.5%, goals against average 1.53

BARYS

Joni Ortio: 16 matches, 7 wins, 9 defeats, 391 saves made, save percentage 91.1%, goals against average 2.41, 2 shutouts

Nikita Boyarkin: 4 matches, 2 defeats, 90 saves made, save percentage 89.1%, goals against average 4.34

WHERE TO WATCH

Puck-drop in Saint Petersburg is scheduled for 17:30 local time. KHL PRIME and Channel 78 will provide a television broadcast in Russia, whereas you can watch a live video on the KHL’s official website worldwide. Text updates will be available on our Twitter account.