Dinamo Minsk - SKA. Introducing the opponents

5 January 2021

CURRENT STANDINGS

12. Dinamo Minsk, 40 matches, 12 regulation victories, 7 overtime victories, 3 penalty shootout victories, 15 regulation defeats, 2 overtime defeats, 1 penalty shootout defeat, goal difference 114-116, 47 points

3. SKA, 42 matches, 23 regulation victories, 1 overtime victory, 2 penalty shootout victories, 10 regulation defeats, 2 overtime defeats, 4 penalty shootout defeats, goal difference 130-91, 58 points

FORM

Dinamo Minsk are enjoying a successful 2020/2021 KHL campaign so far. In contrast to recent seasons, the Belarusians are very much in the playoff mix this year, as they currently occupy seventh position of the Western Conference with 47 points from 40 matches. Interestingly, they have only tallied 12 wins in regulation, however they have registered a further seven victories in overtime and three in penalty shootouts. Coached by Craig Woodcroft, Dinamo have a good balance between North Americans and Belarusians on their roster, and Ryan Spooner (6+26) and Shane Prince (16+14) have proved ruthless in attack as the pair lead the team in scoring. Brennan Menell is their most productive defenseman with 24 (5+19) points on the board.

Since the international break, SKA have mainly been in positive form, earning important points against CSKA Moscow (home, 4:3 OT), Severstal Cherepovets (home, 2:0), Dynamo Moscow (away, 1:2 OT) and HC Sochi (away, 4:1). However, in the concluding game of 2021, our team did concede a disappointing 1:2 loss to Jokerit in regulation in Finland.

POINTS LEADERS IN LAST FIVE MATCHES

DINAMO MINSK

Shane Prince: 6 (3+3) points

Ryan Spooner: 5 (1+4) points

Roman Gorbunov: 4 (2+2) points

SKA

Vladimir Tkachyov: 5 (0+5) points

Andrei Kuzmenko: 4 (3+1) points

Joonas Kemppainen: 4 (2+2) points

WHERE TO WATCH

Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 Moscow time in Minsk, Belarus. KHL TV, KHL TV HD and Channel 78 will provide a television broadcast 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.