Having lost their last game to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in a frustrating manner and also succumbed to the KHL’s sole team in Belarus the last time they faced off (as well as Dinamo Minsk coming in riding a four-game win streak), SKA Saint Petersburg were determined to emerge victorious this time around in their grudge match of sorts on Friday, October 13th. That they did, on the back of a ferocious performance by their star goaltending acquisition, Nikita Serebryakov. Make no mistake, this was no easy task for the group as a whole. They had to overcome deficits of 0-1 and 1-2 to grab this one in front of their home crowd. Thankfully, with major offensive help from another marquee acquisition, RW Borna Rendulic, SKA were able to do just that. After Minsk RW Roman Gorbunov struck first a little over 7 minutes into the first period, SKA were able to draw level via Rendulic striking on a bullet of a pass by the arguable best defenseman (as well as U25 player based off of current form) in the KHL, Alexander Nikishin (69th overall, CAR, 2020 NHL Entry Draft) on a successful power play opportunity. LW Sergei Kuznetsov would help D Ioannis Kaldis raise the score to 2-1 in favor of Dinamo just over 7 minutes into the second period before SKA struck back on another power play via the offseason’s biggest pickup, F Sergei Tolchinsky, scoring with C/incumbent captain Alexander Kadeykin getting the helper. This was an interesting phenomenon, as it put the game in a situation where the eventual losers were the only players with a positive +/- as they scored the only even strength goals to that point, while also dominating the shots on goal stat (more on that momentarily).

That said, part of why this was an impactful win for the team was, as they described on their own X account, patience and resilience. While Dinamo Minsk were mighty in this match, they did make mistakes (particularly in the discipline department, with 10 PIMs to SKA’s 6) and SKA waited for them to happen and capitalized on them well. To this point, though, as well, SKA’s game winner came on even strength just under 13 minutes into the second period, with Rendulic getting his second point of the game (cementing his contributions even further) on the secondary assist on a goal scored by D Artyom Sergeyev (primary assist to LW Vladimir Alistrov, himself a Belarusian). In the final stanza, Dinamo would out-shoot SKA 17 to 6, but SKA held firm, and emerged victorious with a character win. To really illuminate just how much the odds were stacked against them in this matchup, it should be noted the shots on goal discrepancy was 46 to 22 (more than twice as many) in favor of Dinamo Minsk. While the group as a whole deserves commendation for execution in key moments and beating Dinamo in the discipline department, Serebryakov deserves recognition as being the most important factor in their victory. 44 saves on 46 shots against is good for a save percentage of .957, an incredible mark. This assuredly will be remembered as one of the best goaltending performances in the KHL this year. Leave it to last year’s Best Goalie award winner to make such an outstanding performance.

With this victory, SKA Saint Petersburg raised their record to 9 wins and 8 losses on the season, good for 6th in the West, 4th in the Bobrov Division, and 13th in the KHL/Continental Cup race. With their inconsistency this year, it is hard to determine if head coach Roman Rotenberg’s group will carry the confidence from this game forward, especially considering it seems a bit touch-and-go even with the trades for Serebryakov and Rendulic. However, there is still plenty of time left in the season for this new-look group to formulate its chemistry and reach its max potential. They will attempt to maintain this form in their next game against Serebryakov’s former team Admiral Vladivostok on Monday, October 16th, which is the final one in their four-game homestand before they take to the road for a four-game away swing. That road trip concludes with a matchup and a chance for revenge against a noteworthy opponent and familiar face: Matvei Michkov and HC Sochi. Let us see what happens next for SKA Saint Petersburg as they continue to find themselves in a very interesting season.