SKA - Lokomotiv. Introducing the opponents

CURRENT STANDINGS

7. SKA, 13 matches, 6 regulation victories, 1 overtime victory, 2 penalty shootout victories, 3 regulation defeats, 1 penalty shootout defeat, goal difference 44-29, 19 points

12. Lokomotiv, 13 matches, 6 regulation victories, 5 regulation defeats, 1 overtime defeat, 1 penalty shootout defeat, goal difference 35-33, 14 points

FORM

This will be the second 2021/2022 KHL regular season duel between these two clubs. On September 4, SKA edged past Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4:3 on the road in a tense shootout, with Linden Vey, Kirill Marchenko and Andrei Kuzmenko all converting their penalty shots for our team. SKA’s Vasily Tokranov, Joonas Kemppainen and Marat Khusnutdinov had scored in regulation, while Denis Alexeev, Alexei Marchenko and Yegor Averin managed to hit the target for Lokomotiv. Our goaltender Alexander Samonov stopped 33 of the 36 Lokomotiv shots he faced throughout the 65 minutes.

In truth, it hasn’t been an easy start to the campaign for Lokomotiv at all. Despite having widely been regarded as one of the favourites for the Gagarin Cup, the Yaroslavl-based outfit failed to gain any momentum in the opening weeks of the season, notably losing at home to Dinamo Minsk (3:4) and Vityaz Podolsk (2:3) while producing tepid performances on the ice. The management consequently made the call to sack head coach Andrei Skabelka and his staff following the surprising setback to Vityaz, replacing him with former CSKA coaches Igor Nikitin and Dmitry Yushkevich.

Nikitin and Yushkevich, known for teaching their teams to play in a compact, systematic manner with an emphasis on not giving their opponents any space in which to operate, are gradually making their mark on their new team. Since the pair made the move to Yaroslavl, Lokomotiv have earned points in four straight games, losing to Salavat Yulaev in overtime (home, 2:3 OT) before defeating Avangard Omsk (away, 4:1), Vityaz (away, 4:1) and Barys (home, 4:3) in successive matches.

Forwards Alexeev (4+8) and Reid Boucher (3+7) are the only two Lokomotiv players to reach double figures in terms of points so far this season. However, the stand-out figure in recent games has been 24-year-old forward Alexander Polunin, who has picked up six (3+3) points in Lokomotiv’s last five matches while playing in a line with Pavel Kraskovsky (6+2) and Yegor Korshkov (0+5). Leading defensive pairing Rushan Rafikov (4+3, +10) and Alexei Marchenko (2+5, +9) are dangerous at the blue line and solid in their own zone.

It’s worth pointing out that forwards Andre Petersson (0+3) and Anton Sagadeev (0+1) will miss this match because of injuries.

SKA are coming off the back of two consecutive home victories. In the maiden two games of this particular home series, our players completed a pulsating three-goal comeback to slay Traktor Chelyabinsk 4:3 after a shootout and just had enough to sneak past Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk by a score of 2:0. In-form forwards Anton Burdasov (8+6) and Kuzmenko (2+12) are our top scorers with 14 points each, holding a slender three-point advantage over fellow forward Marchenko (8+3). Marchenko registered the winning penalty shot to defeat Neftekhimik on Sunday.

GOALKEEPING STATISTICS

SKA

Lars Johansson: 9 matches, 5 wins, 1 defeat, 187 saves made, save percentage 94.9%, goals against average 1.30, 3 shutouts

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

Yaroslav Askarov: 3 matches, 2 wins, 1 defeat, 47 saves made, save percentage 94.0%, goals against average 1.32

LOKOMOTIV

Edward Pasquale: 12 matches, 5 wins, 7 defeats, 281 saves made, save percentage 90.9%, goals against average 2.33, 1 shutout

Daniil Isaev: 1 match, 1 win, 26 saves made, save percentage 89.7%, goals against average 3.00

WHERE TO WATCH

Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time at the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace. Match TV 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.