Hello! We hope you are enjoying opening night of the 2023-24 NHL season. Maybe you’re checking your phone during an intermission during one of the first games of the year and decided to read more hockey content to really get in the spirit. Hopefully, this scratches an itch for you, as I provide some insight on what’s happened the last couple of days over in Russia’s hockey world, with the 2023-24 KHL season having had some interesting twists and turns in what already might be its most compelling season yet. Both SKA Saint Petersburg and HC Sochi played yesterday (October 9th), with mixed results, and there was a further interaction between the teams today (10/10) which was impactful but expected. Let us examine what has gone down for these two clubs the last 48 hours and between them.

In a home game that was never really a contest, SKA defeated Kunlun Red Star 6-2, with the goals being scored by six different players. C Mikhail Vorobyov notably had a four point night, with 1 goal and 3 assists to his name, seemingly carrying a hot streak with him after his shorthanded game-winner (his first ever shorthanded goal in the KHL) against CSKA Moscow. SKA out-shot Kunlun 41 to 27, with Saint Petersburg G/recent marquee acquisition Nikita Serebryakov stopping 25 of these shots faced for a .926 SV% in another good outing. Kunlun netminder Matt Jurusik, meanwhile, had a rough day on the road, with his .854 SV% as his team overwhelmingly lost the possession battle. While something of a warmup game for a more intimidating opponent in the form of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (who they face tomorrow in the second of four games in their home stand), SKA fulfilled their assignment and should be content with their performance. At present, they sit 7th in the Western Conference, 4th in the Bobrov Division, and 13th in the KHL standings/Continental Cup race. They have been slowly climbing up the standings after their poor start to the campaign and will likely continue to do so.

On HC Sochi’s end, while they had a decent chance to exact revenge against CSKA Moscow for their humiliating defeat in the previous matchup between these two teams in the nation’s capital and snap their long losing streak against them in front of their home crowd in Olympic Park, this did not occur, as CSKA Moscow defeated them 3-2 in overtime. While the team erased 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, the chips did not fall their way. The extra stanza was curious, as well, in that the significant majority of it was played with an empty net by CSKA Moscow as head coach Sergei Fedorov opted for the extra attacker. Quite literally a “high risk, high reward” move that ended up paying off, as D Nikita Nesterov got one past Sochi G Mikhail Berdin 4:20 seconds into OT after HC Sochi attempted multiple times to dump the puck into the CSKA net from the other end. This goal additionally came shortly after a failed attempt by Sochi to connect the dots, to rub salt in the wound. This was a bitter end for Dmitry Kokorev’s group, and assuredly a frustrating ending for touted prospect RW Matvei Michkov (Philadelphia Flyers, 2023 NHL Entry Draft, #7 overall), as he was held without a point in 16:27 TOI and was on the ice for several of those failed attempts on the empty net.

Additionally, this was the last game in a Sochi uniform for RW Borna Rendulic, as today, it was confirmed by his agent and SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg that he has been transferred to SKA in exchange for F Marat Khusnutdinov (Minnesota Wild, 2020 NHL Entry Draft, #37 overall). As a 20-year-old playing his first proper full KHL season (he saw a fair amount of action in 2021-22, posting 12 points and a +4 in 32 regular season games and 4 points and an even +/- in 16 postseason appearances), Khusnutdinov played respectably last season with a statline of 41 points and a +15 in 63 games, followed by 7 points in 16 postseason games (though this time with a -1). To this point in 2023-24, he has played in only six games and has a near-barren statline, as he has not seen significant minutes. It is possible that Sochi gives him more time on ice and that he flourishes in correspondence with his decent ceiling (in a similar manner to Michkov, but without the same expected/realized output). Meanwhile, SKA was once again aggressive in trying to improve their team, as they acquired Sochi’s leading goal and point scorer (9 goals and 15 points in 16 games) in a continuation of his impressive form with Adler Mannheim in the DEL (and more briefly with Örebro HK in the SHL) in recent seasons. It is possible this exchange will pay dividends to both clubs. While this was rumored prior to it becoming concrete, this move is yet another interesting KHL event, particularly regarding these very intertwined clubs. We will see what it does for both going forward.

In the meantime, HC Sochi sits at 5th in the Western Conference, 3rd in the Bobrov Division, and 8th in the KHL/Continental Cup ladder. While some of this volatility is owed to the tight race, their performances have become somewhat inconsistent as of late, and it is also disappointing to see their -7 goal differential caused by a couple of recent blowout losses. However, we will see if they can regather themselves with these recent changes, and get some confidence going in their next game, which places them against Eastern Conference minnows (currently dead last in the KHL) HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. It should be fascinating to watch how this team, already one with so much going on internally and around it, moves forward from this point.