SKA - CSKA. Introducing the opponents

CURRENT STANDINGS

3. SKA: 40 matches, 20 regulation victories, 2 overtime victories, 3 penalty shootout victories, 9 regulation defeats, 2 overtime defeats, 4 penalty shootout defeats, goal difference 123-84, 56 points

5. CSKA: 40 matches, 16 regulation victories, 7 overtime victories, 3 penalty shootout victories, 11 regulation defeats, 2 overtime defeats, 1 penalty shootout defeat, goal difference 99-86, 55 points

FORM

This will be the third meeting between these two rivals in the 2021/2022 KHL regular season. In November, CSKA twice managed to defeat SKA in Moscow, emerging victorious by scores of 4:0 and 3:1 respectively. Anton Burdasov scored our only goal across those two somewhat underwhelming games.

Nevertheless, SKA are indeed ahead of CSKA in the standings, leading the Western Conference with the capital-based outfit only a single point behind in third spot. Before the international break, Sergei Fyodorov’s men did concede two successive defeats to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (home, 2:5) and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (away, 2:3 OT), but they subsequently got back on track on Monday with a 3:1 triumph over Jokerit Helsinki in Finland.

Incredibly, CSKA have already competed in 13 overtime periods this season, winning seven of them while a penalty shootout was required on four occasions. It’s worth pointing out that Fyodorov often pulls the goaltender for the extra skater during the extra frame.

Defenseman Nikita Nesterov is CSKA’s leading scorer after 40 games, with the experienced 28-year-old having tallied 31 (5+26) points from the blue line. Forwards Konstantin Okulov (6+23), Mikhail Grigorenko (15+12), Sergei Plotnikov (15+9) and Anton Slepyshev (10+13) have also been in particularly strong form so far.

Slepyshev and fellow forward Danil Yurtaikin (0+1) are ruled out of this game through injury. As usual, we can expect CSKA to compete in a compact manner, not giving our players space in the attacking zone while patiently waiting for their opportunity to strike.

Only Avangard Omsk (30.4%) boast a better powerplay conversion rate than CSKA (25.0%). However, CSKA haven’t been overly effective when playing shorthanded, only killing 78.3% (17^th place) of their penalties.

Defensemen Darren Dietz and Vladislav Provolnev are eligible to play after recently joining CSKA.

The exciting 4:2 win against Spartak Moscow at the Ice Palace at the start of the week allowed SKA to once again obtain leadership of the conference. Unstoppable forward Andrei Kuzmenko continues to be our top scorer with an impressive haul of 45 (17+28) points in 37 matches, a personal KHL record.

GOALKEEPING STATISTICS

SKA

Lars Johansson: 30 matches, 17 wins, 10 defeats, 629 saves made, 45 goals conceded, save percentage 93.3%, goals against average 1.61, 8 shutouts

Alexander Samonov: 7 matches, 3 wins, 3 defeats, 105 saves made, 18 goals conceded, save percentage 85.4%, goals against average 3.87

Yaroslav Askarov: 5 matches, 2 wins, 2 defeats, 75 saves made, 8 goals conceded, save percentage 90.4%, goals against average 2.01

Dmitry Nikolaev: 4 matches, 3 wins, 82 saves made, 6 goals conceded, save percentage 93.2%, goals against average 1.54

CSKA

Ivan Fedotov: 21 matches, 12 wins, 9 defeats, 492 saves made, 39 goals conceded, save percentage 92.7%, goals against average 1.83, 2 shutouts

Adam Reideborn: 19 matches, 14 wins, 5 defeats, 412 saves made, 43 goals conceded, save percentage 90.5%, goals against average 2.24, 4 shutouts

WHERE TO WATCH

Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time at the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace. Match TV and Channel 78 (Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region only) 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 provided on our Twitter account.