SKA - Dinamo Riga. Presenting the opponents

CURRENT STANDINGS

4. SKA, 34 matches, 19 regulation victories, 1 overtime victory, 1 penalty shootout victory, 9 regulation defeats, 3 penalty shootout defeats, 1 overtime defeat, goal difference 104-76, 46 points

23. Dinamo Riga, 31 matches, 2 regulation victories, 1 overtime victory, 1 penalty shootout victory, 22 regulation defeats, 3 overtime defeats, 2 penalty shootout defeats, goal difference 54-100, 13 points

FORM

It really has been a miserable 2020/2021 KHL regular season so far for Dinamo Riga. Coached by Peteris Skudra, the Latvians have failed to gain any kind of positive momentum to date, only recording two regulation victories against Vityaz Podolsk (4:3) in early September and Kunlun Red Star (5:3) in mid-November in Riga. As it stands, Dinamo Riga are indeed statistically the worst team of the championship, languishing in last place of the standings with a mere 13 points on the board. Their hopes of somehow recovering and qualifying for the Gagarin Cup playoffs already look somewhat slim to say the least.

Nevertheless, despite their terrible results, Riga do have the likes of Mathew Maione (defenseman, 3+5), Lauris Darzins (forward, 4+12), Miks Indrasis (forward, 7+7) and experienced veteran Denis Parshin (forward, 5+7) on their books, and they have showed signs of promise in their last two matches by only losing in overtime to Severstal Cherepovets (3:4 OT) and narrowly falling to Traktor Chelyabinsk (3:4) at home. The Latvian club are in the midst of a five-game losing streak since defeating Kunlun Red Star in overtime (5:4 OT), having subsequently conceded defeats to Sibir Novosibirsk (2:3) in Riga and HC Sochi (2:3) and Vityaz Podolsk (1:4) on the road before facing Severstal and Traktor.

Forward Roberts Bukarts was signed by Dinamo Riga from Severstal on Monday.

SKA, however, are only seven points behind Western Conference leaders CSKA Moscow after producing a powerful performance to thrash Traktor 5:1 in Chelyabinsk on Saturday, as Anton Burdasov - twice -, Kirill Marchenko, Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi and Vladislav Kamenev all hit the jackpot in the Urals. Ahead of that particular duel, SKA had suffered successive losses to Jokerit (1:2 SO) in Saint Petersburg and Metallurg (1:2) in Magnitogorsk, but our team have won three of their most recent five matches having previously beaten Severstal (3:2) and Salavat Yulaev Ufa (3:2 SO) away.

POINTS LEADERS IN LAST FIVE MATCHES

SKA

Igor Ozhiganov: 5 (1+4) points

Vladimir Tkachyov: 5 (0+5) points

Anton Burdasov: 4 (4+0) points

DINAMO RIGA

Miks Indrasis: 6 (4+2) points

Denis Parshin: 6 (3+3) points

Lauris Darzins: 5 (0+5) points

With 31 games having been played, Dinamo Riga have already used a grand total of five different goalkeepers; Stanislav Galimov (13 appearances, 89.1%, 3.65), Ilya Proskuryakov (11 appearances, 89.6%, 2.87), Zane McIntyre (5 appearances, 82.2%, 4.02), Alexander Lazushin (4 appearances, 86.6%, 4.49) and Eriks Vitols (3 appearances, 87.9%, 4.86). McIntyre and Proskuryakov took it in turns to compete against Traktor and Severstal.

Alexander Samonov (7 appearances, 91.0%, 2.54) and Magnus Hellberg (11 appearances, 93.1%, 2.12, 1 shutout) have also been alternating between the pipes for SKA recently. In Chelyabinsk, 29-year-old Swede Hellberg impressed with a solid showing, stopping 16 of the 17 Traktor shots he faced to secure the triumph for SKA. Mikhail Berdin (13 appearances, 91.6%, 2.49) hasn’t played since he was pulled after the first period of the 3:2 overtime win against Salavat Yulaev at home on November 16.

Yaroslav Askarov (7 appearances, 96.2%, 0.96, 1 shutout) is currently training with the junior Russian national team ahead of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.

WHERE TO WATCH

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