Thursday, September 28th was a day to forget for HC Sochi. In the Russian capital, they were trounced 7-1 by HC CSKA Moscow as they were out-shot by the hosts 36 to 18. To put it simply, Sochi was out-played by the home team in almost every facet. Despite having the narrow advantage at the faceoff dot (32 to 28), they were destroyed in possession (with CSKA also having a further 24 shots that were blocked, in contrast with Sochi’s 10). They were additionally out-hit 17 to 6, a big part of them being taken out of the game. It was a difficult night for both G Maxim Tretyak and Mikhail Berdin, as the former allowed 4 goals on 25 shots before being pulled and the latter surrendered 3 goals on 11 shots as the team simply could not prevent CSKA from putting shots on net. RW Borna Rendulic (formerly of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks) also had a frustrating day. He tallied an assist and registered 7 shots on net (a game high for both teams), but, like the rest of his team, could not buy a goal. On the other side of the ice, CSKA LW Danil Yurtaikin scored 2 goals, the game-opener just over six minutes in and the final one with only five seconds remaining. The latter was when this game most felt like a film scene, as CSKA head coach Sergei Fedorov (you may remember him from his time with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim – just kidding, the Detroit Red Wings [on a personal note, I actually had a poster of him as a Mighty Duck when I was growing up, which probably was pretty rare/something I should have held on to, in retrospect]) stood behind the bench with a menacing smile on his face as CSKA’s goal song, “Maria (I Like It Loud)” by Scooter (incidentally once used by the Philadelphia Flyers) played over the arena’s sound system. In general, this game and its background, much like a lot of different elements in the 2023-24 KHL season, felt like movie material. CSKA is not having the most impressive beginning to the year, with their record currently standing at 5 wins (4 in regulation, 1 in overtime) and 7 losses (6 in regulation, 1 in overtime), making their record inferior to that of Sochi’s to this point. However, there has become something of a “death and taxes” element to their victories over HC Sochi, as they extended their victory streak over Sochi to an almost New England Patriots vs. New York Jets-esque 22 straight. Additionally, it seems fair to intuit, and some Sochi fans have suggested this, as well, that CSKA was playing angry in this game and took out their frustrations about this poor start on a team they knew they have a psychological advantage over and this served to their benefit. It certainly seems to have played out that way. For 18-year-old phenom/Flyers prospect (7th overall, 2023 NHL Entry Draft) Matvei Michkov’s part, he played 17:04 of ice time, registering 1 shot on net and blocked one shot on defense. He was a -2, as his team had the wheels come off. Head coach Dmitry Kokorev’s group almost assuredly wanted to turn the page after this one, and they would do so successfully, if the next result was any indication.

On Saturday, September 30th, HC Sochi would put in a very satisfying performance against a superior opponent and emerge with a 5-2 road victory against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, who currently sit-atop the league standings/Continental Cup ladder. This was done largely on the back of an outstanding performance by Rendulic, who must have felt very redeemed after a frustrating team and individual game two days prior, as he scored a hat-trick on just 6 shots on net. Additionally, who else would have a fantastic game for Sochi but Matvei Michkov? He tallied both a goal (with that goal yet again being a game-winner, as it would bring the score to 3-2) and a primary/the sole assist on a go-ahead goal (2-1) by Kirill Rasskazov, with 6 shots on goal and a +2 and 1 hit in 16:31 TOI. Michkov showed the Broad Street mentality yet again today, as well, standing up for himself well in a couple of altercations and spending a couple of minutes in the penalty box. He was the second star of the game, with the first naturally being Rendulic, who of course also was the recipient of the Olympic torch. The third star, it must be noted, went to Torpedo’s Bobby Lynch, who also earned a goal and an assist, with the former goal being the former AHLer’s first in the KHL in his first appearance in the league. For further noteworthy stats on this game, it should be noted that Torpedo out-shot Sochi 40 to 34 and had 17 on their shots blocked (with Torpedo blocking 11 shot attempts by Sochi) and had the narrow advantage in both hits (11 to 10) and faceoffs won (36 to 33). However, Mikhail Berdin stood tall between the pipes, stopping 38 of those shots, whereas Torpedo G Ivan Kulbakov was pulled upon allowing the eventual GWG by Michkov and stopping just 23 of 26 shots on net, and backup/former New York Ranger Adam Huska allowed 2 goals on 8 shots. Between a great performance in net and efficient shooting, Sochi emerged victorious in a great bounce-back game against the best team in the league.

All of this serves to set the stage for HC Sochi’s first matchup with SKA Saint Petersburg, taking place at home on Monday, October 2nd. We know what the background for this game is in terms of the relationship between the two teams, but to recap: This is Sochi’s first meeting with the club with whom Michkov has a contract, but got little ice-time with in two consecutive seasons at the KHL level before being loaned out to HC Sochi both times. In the first four games of this season, he was a healthy scratch three times. Since then, he has played top six minutes consistently, and has 3 goals and 4 assists in 7 games played (a point-per-game pace) with a +3. This is unsurprising, given that he flourished with Sochi last year, posting 9 goals and 11 assists for 20 points in 27 games (a historically great season by a Russian player in his NHL Entry Draft eligible year) after appearing in just 3 outings with SKA before being loaned out. There are differences between this year and last, however. When Michkov was first loaned out to Sochi by SKA, he had yet to lose his father in the city of Sochi, tarnishing his memory of it. Consequently, he did not want to be loaned out to HC Sochi again this year, as the association with this personal tragedy was very strong. As such, there has been speculation this might cause him to demand to be bought out of his deal so that he may jump ship to the NHL, and the team he most wants to play for, the Philadelphia Flyers, early. I cannot assert this for certain, but perhaps a revenge game can be considered part of this narrative, too. Another difference between this year and last is that the compete levels are much closer between these two teams. Last year, SKA had the best record in the league/captured the Continental Cup, whereas Sochi was dead last. As of right now, Sochi is higher in the standings than SKA, sitting fourth in the Western Conference, second in the Bobrov Division, and sixth in the KHL to Saint Petersburg’s sixth, fourth, and twelfth, respectively (SKA has one game in hand, but they are four points behind Sochi; therefore, even if they do win, they can only draw within two points of them, and will need one more set of results to fall their way afterwards to tie them). The respective records of both clubs stand at 8 wins for Sochi (7 in regulation, 1 in overtime) and 4 defeats (all in regulation) and 6 wins and 5 losses (all results in regulation) for SKA. With these numbers in mind, if vengeance is what Michkov seeks, it may be possible for him to acquire judging by his team’s performance to this point and his individual success. The most recent forms do deserve some contrast, as SKA is on a four-game win streak after recovering from their mostly poor early form which saw them lose five straight after winning their first two matches, whereas Sochi are just one game removed from a horrific defeat. That said, Sochi has won 7 of their last 8 and 8 of their last 10, their most recent matchup was a three-goal victory over the best team in the KHL, and they are playing at home. They could well emerge with the W. That said, we will just have to wait and see what happens when the most exciting game of the 2023-24 KHL season so far takes place on Monday.