Spartak - SKA. Introducing the opponents

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

To date, SKA and Spartak have played against each other on three occasions during the 2019/2020 KHL regular season, with the latter emerging victorious in all of those particular games:

07.10.2019. SKA - Spartak - 2:3 OT (Burdasov 36:06, Tkachyov 40:19; Vishevsky 07:35, Hanzl 18:23, Karsums 60:28)

20.10.2019. SKA - Spartak - 2:3 (Dyblenko 16:56, Plotnikov 58:52; Arkalov 09:07, Nikontsev 14:26, 21:16)

07.01.2019. Spartak - SKA - 3:1 (Malykhin 09:15, Zubov 19:05, Hanzl 55:10; Kuzmenko 16:04)

CURRENT FORM

Spartak, currently occupying fifth place of the Western Conference with 68 points from 54 matches, require one more point to book their berth in the Gagarin Cup playoffs. Initially, Spartak did begin 2020 with four defeats in five games, but they have since improved by winning three of their past four home matches against Severstal (3:0), Traktor (4:0) and Kunlun Red Star (7:4) while conceding the one loss to Dynamo Moscow (0:4). The Moscow outfit, coached by former SKA boss Oleg Znarok, haven't lost against our club since the 2018/2019 playoffs.

For their part, SKA have suffered defeats in four out of the most recent five away games, with two of those matches having taken place in the Russian capital. Nevertheless, with World Junior Championship silver medalists Ivan Morozov, Kirill Marchenko and Vasily Podkolzin particularly impressing, and the gifted Vladimir Tkachyov in great form, SKA are enjoying a four-game winning streak after defeating Barys (7:4), Torpedo (4:3), Dinamo Minsk (5:0) and Avangard (1:0 OT) at the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace. SKA can move to within five points of first-placed CSKA with a win in the Russian capital today.

POINTS LEADERS IN LAST FIVE KHL MATCHES

Artyom Fyodorov: 8 (3+5) points

Ilya Zubov: 5 (1+4) points

Kaspars Daugavins: 4 (4+0) points)

Boasting a grand total of 36 points to his name, Artyom Fyodorov is the top Spartak scorer, however Kaspars Daugavins (35) and Ilya Zubov (34) aren't far behind him. Alexander Khokhlachyov, formely of SKA, has 28 points on the board. In defence, Yakov Rylov is most productive Spartak defenseman with 32 points, while Julius Hudacek regularly starts between the pipes for the Muscovites with a save percentage of 92.6% and a goals against average of 2.14. The popular 31-year-old Slovak has also earned three shutouts.

START TIME

Puck drop at the CSKA Arena is scheduled for 19:30 local time. Match TV and Channel 78 will provide a live television broadcast in Russia, whereas you can also read text on our official Twitter account.