All-out attack capital clash

3 October 2025

SKA, aiming to generate positive momentum following two defeats on the trot at home, make their first trip to Moscow of the 2025/2026 season to face fierce rivals Spartak.

CONSISTENTLY IN-CONSISTENT

It’s been a turbulent start to the campaign for Spartak. Although they have a strong attacking line at their disposal, the capital-based organisation are more often than not being let down by slack defending, with the Muscovites having already conceded a whopping 34 goals across just 10 games. For comparison, only rock-bottom Lada Tolyatti have let in more (48).

Spartak are indeed yet to string two consecutive wins together. However, while they are struggling for any kind of consistency, they’re a real threat and possess the required weapons to cause the somewhat leaky SKA defence plenty of major problems. Furthermore, they are coming into this game on the back of a confidence-boosting 6:3 home triumph over Traktor Chelyabinsk on Tuesday.

Their top line consisting of Nikita Korostelyov, German Rubtsov and Pavel Poryadin has been on fire so far. Unsurprisingly, having amassed an impressive combined total of 29 points to date, the trio are Spartak’s three leading scorers. Former Salavat Yulaev Ufa forward Nathan Todd is yet to get going in Moscow, but he has bags of quality as do the likes of Adam Ruzicka, Alexander Pashin and familiar face Mikhail Maltsev. It’s worth noting that fellow ex-SKA forward Ivan Morozov is currently sitting on the sidelines after a prohibited substance was detected in a sample provided to RUSADA.

Joey Keane is the main man to look out for at the blue line. After an underwhelming 2024/2025 AHL campaign with the San Jose Barracuda, the 26-year-old American didn’t need much time to get back on track at Spartak, recording seven (2+5) points from his first 10 appearances and joining the rush at any given opportunity. Keane and Daniil Sobolev are incidentally the only two Spartak defensemen with a positive plus/minus rating (+1) at the moment, a statistic which speaks volumes about the difficulties which their team face at the back.

Artyom Zagidulin is regarded as Spartak’s first-choice goalkeeper. Nonetheless, he hasn’t enjoyed the most successful of season starts either, conceding over three goals per game on average and only gaining three wins from eight matches. 25-year-old Dmitry Nikolayev, a product of the SKA system, has emerged victorious in only one of his four fixtures.

Coached by the well-known Alexei Zhamnov, Spartak’s all-out attack, swashbuckling approach is certainly entertaining to watch, especially when you consider that they nearly always register at least 35 shots on target and boast the league’s best powerplay with a superb conversion rate of 38.1%. Taking into account that SKA also compete with a clear emphasis on attack, this game has the potential to be a true goal-fest with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

LEADERS

GOALKEEPERS

Artyom Zagidulin: 8 matches, 3 wins, 90.0% save percentage, 3.32 GAA

Dmitry Nikolayev: 4 matches, 1 win, 90.8% save percentage, 3.05 GAA

DEFENSEMEN

Joey Keane: 7 (2+5) points, +1

Daniil Orlov: 7 (2+5) points, -2

Andrei Mironov: 3 (2+1) points, -2

FORWARDS

Nikita Korostelyov: 10 (7+3) points, +5

German Rubtsov: 10 (5+5) points, -1

Pavel Poryadin: 9 (4+5) points, -1

SPECIAL TEAMS

42 attempts, 16 goals, 38.1% success rate, 1^st place

35 penalties, 10 conceded goals, 71.4% success rate, 21^st place

WHERE TO WATCH

Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:00 local time at the Megasport Arena. You can purchase a live video broadcast on the KHL’s official website, whereas text updates are available on our official X account.