Dynamo Moscow - SKA. Introducing the opponents

CURRENT STANDINGS

7. Dynamo Moscow, 22 matches, 14 regulation victories, 1 overtime victory, 7 regulation defeats, goal difference 79-56, 30 points

3. SKA, 23 matches, 12 regulation victories, 1 overtime victory, 3 penalty shootout victories, 4 regulation defeats, 1 overtime defeat, 2 penalty shootout defeats, goal difference 81-49, 35 points

FORM

This will be the second 2021/2022 KHL regular season meeting between these two clubs. On October 13, SKA managed to defeat Dynamo Moscow in a thriller, emerging victorious by a score of 5:3 in Saint Petersburg. Ivan Morozov, Anton Burdasov, Joonas Kemppainen - twice - and Evgeny Ketov hit the target for our team, as solid goaltender Lars Johansson stopped 22 of the 25 opposing shots he faced. Dmitry Rashevsky (2) and Rob Klinkhammer scored for Dynamo.

Dynamo have made notable changes to their squad since that game. Goaltender Ivan Kulbakov (Vityaz Podolsk), ex-SKA defenseman Anton Belov (free agent, tryout contract) and forwards Gleb Shashkov (Spartak Moscow), Danil Avershin (Spartak Moscow) and Anton Wedin (Sibir Novosibirsk) have joined, while forwards Nikolai Chebykin and Dmitry Zlodeev have both left for Spartak. After facing SKA earlier in the month, Alexei Kudashov’s troops subsequently lost to Traktor Chelyabinsk (away, 3:5) and Vityaz (home, 2:5) and managed to beat Ak Bars Kazan (away, 5:4 OT), Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (away, 3:0) and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (home, 4:1). The capital-based outfit currently occupy third spot of the Western Conference, but they do have one game in hand over leaders SKA.

In typically fantastic form, veteran 34-year-old forward Vadim Shipachyov is Dynamo’s top scorer, having picked up an impressive haul of 36 (13+23) points in 22 matches. Fellow forwards Rashevsky (13+8), Stanislav Galiev (11+7), Klinkhammer (4+9) and Eric O’Dell (6+6) are also threatening players to watch out for. Former SKA defenseman Vyacheslav Voynov has been lethal at the blue line with 19 (3+16) points to his name.

Defenseman Andrei Pedan (2+7) and forwards Oscar Lindberg (1+2) and Artyom Fyodorov (0+0) are ruled out of today’s match for Dynamo due to injury problems.

SKA are coming into this game on the back of four successive wins against Jokerit Helsinki (home, 2:0), Kunlun Red Star Beijing (home, 7:0), Avangard Omsk (away, 5:1) and Dinamo Riga (away, 5:4 SO), meaning that our players should certainly be full of confidence. Since joining our team, defenseman Mikko Lehtonen (1+2) and forward Nikita Gusev (1+8) have been in great shape, especially when competing on the powerplay. Forwards Andrei Kuzmenko (6+18), Joonas Kemppainen (13+7) and Anton Burdasov (10+10) are our leading scorers.

GOALKEEPING STATISTICS

DYNAMO MOSCOW

Ivan Bocharov: 16 appearances, 9 wins, 6 defeats, 373 saves made, save percentage 90.5%, goals against average 2.67, 2 shutouts

Alexander Yeryomenko: 8 appearances, 6 wins, 1 defeat, 190 saves made, save percentage 93.6%, goals against average 1.79, 1 shutout

SKA

Lars Johansson: 16 appearances, 11 wins, 2 defeats, 341 saves made, save percentage 94.7%, goals against average 1.29, 7 shutouts

Alexander Samonov: 7 appearances, 3 wins, 3 defeats, 105 saves made, save percentage 85.4%, goals against average 3.88

Yaroslav Askarov: 5 appearances, 2 wins, 2 defeats, 75 saves made, save percentage 90.4%, goals against average 2.01

WHERE TO WATCH

Puck-drop at the VTB Arena in Moscow is scheduled for 19:30 local time. KHL TV 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.