High stakes on rivalry night

With both teams locked in an increasingly fierce battle for KHL playoff qualification, CSKA will host SKA in Moscow for the first time tonight in a potentially crucial showdown.

PLAYOFF RACE HEATING UP

Who would have thought that come late November, perennial favourites CSKA and SKA would still be languishing at the wrong end of the Western Conference! Ice hockey’s a funny old game, though, and a long, drawn out fight to simply qualify for the playoffs now seems inevitable for these two giants.

CSKA initially entered the campaign with high hopes. Despite signing the likes of gifted forwards Daniel Sprong, Dmitry Buchelnikov and Nikolai Kovalenko – who are incidentally CSKA’s leading three scorers with a combined total of 65 points – the capital outfit have flattered to deceive, conceding far too many goals and suffering a large total of 13 regulation defeats from 29 matches. Yes, CSKA do currently occupy a playoff berth as they continue to sit in eighth spot of the conference, but SKA are only one point behind and have three games in hand.

A lack of balance is continuing to cost Igor Nikitin’s troops. On one hand, CSKA boast the league’s second best powerplay with an impressive conversion rate of 32.1%, but on the other, they possess the second worst penalty kill! That statistic really does sum up their season so far: the Muscovites have more firepower than most, but they’re too easy to score against and cannot string a run of positive results together.

Struggling Canadian goalkeeper Spencer Martin was shown the door recently in favour of Alexander Samonov, who arrived from Ufa. However, the latter hasn’t exactly set the world alight since making the move to the capital, suffering two losses in two matches while letting in six goals in the process. 22-year-old Dmitry Gamzin is Nikitin’s first choice goaltender with strong numbers on the board.

The first game between the two teams a month ago was full of goals and low on quality. SKA more than matched CSKA while playing 5-on-5, but ill-discipline resulted in the visitors earning a slender 4:3 win in Saint Petersburg thanks to Sprong’s PP marker midway through the third period. It’s imperative that our players keep out of the box if they’re to avenge that particular defeat.

LEADERS*

GOALKEEPERS

Dmitry Gamzin: 16 matches, 8 wins, 92.7% save percentage, 1.96 GAA, 2 shutouts

Alexander Samonov: 2 matches, 0 wins, 82.9% save percentage, 3.74 GAA

DEFENSEMEN

Nikita Nesterov: 9 (2+7) points, -6

Jeremy Roy: 7 (2+5) points, -3

Nikita Okhotyuk: 7 (1+6) points, 0

FORWARDS

Daniel Sprong: 29 (12+17) points, +5

Dmitry Buchelnikov: 20 (10+10), +4

Nikolai Kovalenko: 16 (7+9) points, -8

*Only taking players on CSKA’s books at this moment in time in account

SPECIAL TEAMS

PP

84 attempts, 27 goals, 32.1% conversion rate, 2^nd place

PK

85 penalties, 24 conceded goals, 71.8% success rate, 3 shorthanded goals, 21^st place

WHERE TO WATCH

Puck-drop is scheduled for 19:30 local time. You can purchase a live video broadcast on the KHL’s official website, whereas text updates are available on our official X account.