SKA - Spartak. Introducing the opponents

CURRENT STANDINGS

4. SKA, 25 matches, 13 regulation victories, 1 overtime victory, 3 penalty shootout victories, 4 regulation defeats, 1 overtime defeat, 3 penalty shootout defeats, goal difference 86-54, 38 points

14. Spartak, 25 matches, 9 regulation victories, 4 overtime victories, 11 regulation defeats, 1 penalty shootout defeat, goal difference 62-62, 27 points

FORM

This will be the second 2021/2022 KHL regular season meeting between these two clubs. On September 14, SKA managed to defeat Spartak 2:0 in Moscow, with Anton Burdasov and Kirill Marchenko - on the powerplay - scoring excellent second-period goals to secure the two points. Goaltender Lars Johansson stopped all 30 shots he faced at the Megasport Arena.

The Muscovites have struggled for consistency throughout the campaign so far. Despite boasting a strong squad, Spartak are indeed only occupying eighth place of the Western Conference, trailing leaders SKA by a large 11 points. In their first two games of this particular road trip, Boris Mironov’s team came up short against Lokomotiv in Yaroslavl (2:4) and Severstal in Cherepovets (2:3 OT). Furthermore, the capital outfit had conceded a surprise 1:3 loss to Sochi at home before they left for this away series.

Spartak had previously won five consecutive matches against Dinamo Minsk (away, 2:1 OT), CSKA Moscow (home, 4:3 OT), Vityaz Podolsk (away, 5:2), Kunlun Red Star Beijing (home, 4:2) and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (home, 5:3).

Their star man is without doubt well-known Canadian forward Jake Virtanen. Since joining Spartak in September, the 25-year-old has taken a leading role for his new employers, registering 10 (6+4) points in 15 appearances and standing out with his imposing play. Virtanen is often used in one line with Jori Lehtera (5+14) and Emil Pettersson (9+3), although he played with Alexander Khokhlachyov (7+11) and Andrei Loktionov (7+7) on Tuesday against Severstal and dished out two assists for Spartak’s two goals.

Virtanen - drafted by the Vancouver Canucks - was the sixth pick of the 2014 NHL Draft. His most productive season in the NHL was the 2019/2020 campaign, as he picked up 39 (20+19) points in 85 games.

Forwards Lehtera, Khokhlachyov, Sergei Shirokov (7+10), Loktionov, Pettersson, Virtanen and Dmitry Kugryshev (1+9) are Spartak’s leading scorers. At the blue line, Swedish defenseman Tim Heed is a threat to watch out for, with the 30-year-old having picked up 14 (2+12) points in 25 matches. Dmitry Vishnevsky has also reached double figures among their defensemen with 10 (2+8) points.

SKA are continuing to lead the Western Conference having tallied at least one point in the last 10 successive matches. As it stands, Jokerit Helsinki are level on 38 points with SKA, but our players do have one game in hand.

With 25 games in the books, in-form forward Andrei Kuzmenko (10+18) - who netted two goals in each of our recent matches against Avangard Omsk (away, 5:1), Dynamo Moscow (away, 3:2) and Metallurg Magnitogorsk (2:3 SO) - is our top scorer. Fellow forward Alexander Volkov made one assist on his senior SKA debut against Magnitogorsk this week.

GOALKEEPING STATISTICS

SKA

Lars Johansson: 18 matches, 12 wins, 3 defeats, 386 saves made, 23 goals conceded, save percentage 94.4%, goals against average 1.37, 7 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

SPARTAK

Alexei Krasikov: 18 matches, 12 wins, 6 defeats, 380 saves made, 32 goals conceded, save percentage 92.2%, goals against average 1.98, 1 shutout

Oscar Dansk: 9 matches, 1 win, 6 defeats, 204 saves made, 26 goals conceded, save percentage 88.7%, goals against average 2.98

Andrei Skovronsky: 1 match, 11 saves made, 1 goal conceded, save percentage 91.7%, goals against average 3.00

WHERE TO WATCH

Puck-drop at the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace is scheduled for 17:00 local time. KHL 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.