As fortune would have it, HC Sochi had their first impressive performance in a handful of games today (October 27th) against the same team they made arguably their most impactful/definitely their most sentimental victory against in the 2023-24 KHL season season. No less, it happened in the same venue (at home in the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Olympic Park) by the same scoreline. This time, however, the game might have been even more dramatic, both on the ice and off of it in the narrative leading up to this matchup. In the previous matchup, the narrative was centered on RW Matvei Michkov (PHI, 7th overall, 2023), the young phenom projected as the best Russian prospect since Alexander Ovechkin, having been loaned out to Sochi from SKA Saint Petersburg for the second year in a row despite not wanting to return there for personal reasons. This of course remains very relevant, but another prospect, C/RW Marat Khusnutdinov (MIN, 37th overall, 2020), was also involved, as he was the prime piece in a trade by SKA that centered on them receiving Sochi’s then-top scorer RW Borna Rendulic. Could Sochi emerge victorious against this favored opponent with whom they have such a complex history with yet again?

Indeed, they could, and they did. The game got off to an unfavorable start for the home team, as they were thoroughly outplayed in the first period, entering the first intermission trailing 2-0 on an unassisted even-strength goal by D Alexander Nikishin (CAR, 69th overall, 2020) and a power play goal by C Alex Galchenyuk (with assists by Nikishin and LW Arseni Gritsyuk [NJD, 129th overall, 2019]). They additionally were beaten in every major team statistical category (being out-shot 14 to 11, beaten at the faceoff dot 13 to 9, losing the shot blocks battle 4 to 3, and out-hit 7 to 1). However, the tides turned dramatically in the second frame, with Sochi scoring 3 successive goals, coming from C Kirill Rasskazov (with assists by F Michal Kristof and D Jesse Graham) on the power play, LW Dmitry Zavgorodniy (assisted by C Anton Sagadeyev), and RW Artur Tyanulin (unassisted, coming off a horrible turnover by SKA), the latter two both at even strength. SKA would draw level on an even strength goal by D Mikhail Pashnin (assisted by RW Nikolai Polyakov) before the period would end and seized the lead on a short-handed goal just under three minutes into the final frame by F Zakhar Bardakov (NJD, 203rd overall, 2021), assisted by LW Stepan Starkov. However, Sochi would respond less than a minute later on a short-handed goal of their own by Kristof, with Khusnutdinov tallying his first assist of the season on the play (which had to be cathartic for him). With just 36 seconds remaining, Sochi would take the 5-4 lead on a power play goal by winger Sergei Popov (with assists by Graham and Kristof) while Starkov was in the box serving a double minor for high-sticking. SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg called timeout, but the attempt at a re-group to tie the game led to nothing, and Sochi yet again emerged victorious against the defending Continental Cup winners. While Michkov did not register a point in this game as he seemed quite swarmed throughout much of the matchup, he was effective on defense with a couple of takeaways and registered a +1 and helped his team in any manner he could. Khusnutdinov, meanwhile, was a +2 in addition to his assist on the GTG in the third. Additionally, Graham and Kristof both had multi-point games, and G Mikhail Berdin out-dueled the best goaltender in the KHL, Nikita Serebryakov, posting a .886 SV% on 35 shots against to Serebryakov’s .848 on 33. While the group was defeated in many facets, with SKA having more blocked shots (12 to 9), faceoff wins (37 to 23), and hits (17 to 12), Sochi excelled in special teams play, as well as capitalizing on key moments and mistakes by SKA. In the spirit of the latter, Artur Tyanulin, who took advantage of a horrible miscue for an important goal, was awarded the Olympic torch for Sochi’s player of the game.

With this victory, Sochi jumped ahead of SKA in the standings by 1 point, as the teams effectively see-saw’ed with one another after SKA had previously usurped them via their victory against Kunlun Red Star. Taking back this spot with a statement victory over a titan of an opponent who bolstered their roster with the additions of Rendulic and Serebryakov (having acquired the latter in a trade with Admiral Vladivostok) might be a huge confidence booster as the team looks to get back on track after some weak results. We will see if this carries over for head coach Dmitry Kokorev’s group in their back-to-back at home against Dynamo Moscow on Monday and Tuesday (10/30-31). Meanwhile, for SKA, their next games take place on Tuesday and Thursday (November 2nd), both at home against Ak Bars Kazan and Avangard Omsk, respectively. This very talented group has not played up to its potential this year, even with the additions of marquee stars. Will they get it together after this? We shall see. Roman Rotenberg may just have something in store for us.