The two teams covered in this series covering the 2023-24 KHL season yet again remained in the same spot in relation to one another, as both SKA Saint Petersburg and HC Sochi fell in regulation on November 2nd. Regarding SKA, they played quite well in terms of applying offensive pressure, out-shooting the visiting Avangard Omsk 47 to 24 (in addition to having 17 shots blocked by Avangard defenders as opposed to their own 6). However, defensive lapses led to them conceding a hat trick to Omsk D Damir Sharipzyanov, as well as a goal to Omsk winger Reid Boucher (who some may remember from his stints in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks), and they would have the final nail in the coffin hit by an empty-netter by Avangard C Ivan Nikolishin. This play was not well met by SKA, as they believed there was a missed penalty prior to the goal. SKA F Zakhar Bardakov was particularly livid and was given the boot via a 2+10+20 for abuse of officials and unsportsmanlike conduct with just under four minutes remaining. SKA would get a consolation goal on the power play with just seven seconds remaining, as winger Arseni Gritsyuk (NJD, 129th overall, 2019) delivered an absolute bullet to the top left corner on a one-timer from the point on a perfect cross-ice feed by D Alexander Nikishin (CAR, 69th overall, 2020), but they would fall 5-3 as their woeful (in terms of meeting expectations) 2023-24 campaign continues on its usual course. To this point, their record stands at exactly 12 wins and 12 losses, all results in regulation. I am sure that no one expected this form from the defending Continental Cup winners, especially not themselves. How will head coach Roman Rotenberg respond? We shall see how their form changes in their next two matchups on the road in the capital region against Vityaz (a very poor squad) and Spartak Moscow (one of the KHL’s best teams and the possible eventual Gagarin Cup champions this year).

In the meantime, HC Sochi, in the second-to-last game of their long homestand, were confronted with the realities of the absences of two essential forwards in Michal Kristof and Artur Tyanulin. Like SKA, they had the advantage in shots on net (40 to 26), but ultimately fell 3-1, as they were not able to convert on the meaningful scoring chances they created against Amur Khabarovsk G Igor Bobkov. This result was definitely not through a lack of effort, as RW Matvei Michkov (PHI, 7th overall, 2023) put up 11 shots on goal (tied for his single-game career high), many of them high quality and he also scored on the rebound on a play that he himself created. While the game remained tight, poor formation and execution in the offensive zone led to Sochi conceding the empty net dagger with just 25 seconds remaining. This was somewhat of a sad defeat to see, as they did put in a herculean effort with a depleted roster (you can read head coach Dmitry Kokorev’s statement here about how this affected deployments and how their overall situation has created some load management, etc.) and Michkov played in the manner he has virtually all season (consult this thread for more information on his shooting numbers) and could have scored even more. However, they simply will have to pick themselves back up and strive for better results when they face Avangard on Saturday, November 4th, in the last game of this long and disappointing home series.

The one interesting part of this “stalemate” dynamic between these two clubs since HC Sochi yet again defeated SKA Saint Petersburg in their latest matchup is that the changes going on around them have made it so that Sochi has the final playoff spot, leaving SKA on the outside looking in by just the solitary point. It still feels somewhat unlikely even with SKA vastly performing below their ceiling two months into the season at this point, but were these to be their final fates, the reactions would be exact opposites. With SKA Saint Petersburg having gone from first in the league last regular season and making some decent roster moves to remain competitive to missing the postseason, this would be an absolute nightmare for one of the biggest clubs in Russian ice hockey. On the other end, HC Sochi were the worst team in the KHL last year, and it wasn’t all that close. Even if they squeaked into the postseason as the bottom seed and made no impact, it would be a massive improvement. They already have just one fewer victory than they did all last season. Perhaps there are reasons for this club to dream big, even if their results have been eluding them. Just the fact that Matvei Michkov (having already nearly matched his goal-scoring totals from last year) has demonstrated a huge improvement from his D0 year to his D+1 season provides room for optimism.