On the first outing of their four-game road trip, SKA Saint Petersburg peppered the home squad, HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, with shots in their matchup on 10/21/2023. In fact, they had 36 shots on net to Neftekhimik’s 24, in addition to having an overall possession edge via their 33 to 23 advantage at the faceoff dot. There simply ended up not being much they could do with that, as Neftekhimik’s defense blocked an additional 27 attempts and G Filipp Dolganov stopped all the pucks that made it through. The only scoring done today was by C Dmitry Zhukenov (his first two goals of the KHL season), both on assists by winger Dmitri Sokolov (these likewise being his first two assists of the year) – The first being even strength, the second being on the power play with just over six minutes to go in regulation – as SKA fell to the Eastern Conference minnows in their home barn, 2-0. Simply a game to forget for SKA as they fell to an inferior group led by head coach Oleg Leontyev. Their own bench boss, Roman Rotenberg, is going to use this as a demonstration as to why converting scoring opportunities (which they had in spades) is so crucial, because not executing opens up the possibility of a defeat to a team that you are beating in most areas of the game. That is exactly what we saw here today.

In wholesome, off-the-ice news, this was a reunion of sorts for a player each on the SKA and Neftekhimik rosters. This game marked the first time that these squads faced each other since adding Alex Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov to their rosters, respectively. The third and first overall picks (by Montreal and Edmonton) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the two were teammates on the OHL’s Sarnia Sting before entering the league. The meeting between the two former teammates was documented by the KHL and can be found on their Facebook page. Galchenyuk’s coming over to the KHL was surrounded by controversy, as his off-ice demons and personal conduct effectively chased him from the NHL. Yakupov, meanwhile, is considered one of the biggest NHL draft busts ever due to his low scoring output and short career before heading home to his native Russia (incidentally, by joining Neftekhimik this season, he returns to his hometown club in Tatarstan, with whom he was developed in the MHL before heading to the CHL with their affiliate club now known as JHC Reaktor, and played with during the lockout that eliminated the beginning of his rookie NHL season). Yakupov was often criticized for his poor work ethic, which was seen as the biggest inhibitor to his NHL success, but his interview last month on the Dropping the Gloves podcast depicts difficulties in different areas of adaptation and a difficult environment in Edmonton as his biggest obstacles. As such, I think it is worth considering painting Yakupov as a sympathetic figure.

SKA’s next game on this road swing is on Monday, October 23rd against Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. This defeat lessened their chances of catching up to HC Sochi and familiar face RW Matvei Michkov (PHI, 7th overall, 2023) in the standings (they sit three points behind them at 7th in the Western Conference), but they will still have an opportunity with a win here, as their next game is against a should-be pushover in the form of Kunlun Red Star. However, they are playing against a good opponent before then, and they also have had inconsistency in their form, with today’s defeat serving as one example of many. The defending Continental Cup winners should be looking much better than they are, particularly after the additions of a fantastic scorer in Borna Rendulic and the league’s best goaltender in Nikita Serebryakov. Roman Rotenberg needs to get this group going soon if they are to have a good seeding in the postseason.