SKA Saint Petersburg:

Game 16: Tuesday, October 15th

SKA 3-2 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (SO)

Game 17: Thursday, October 17th

SKA 5-4 CSKA Moscow (OT)

Game 18: Monday, October 21st

SKA 8-1 Vityaz Moscow Region

The club made you worry a bit in the matchup against the club affectionately known in our circles as “The Team with the Bear.” However, Habs prospect Ivan Demidov (who racked up another accolade recently as KHL Rookie of the Week, complementing his Rookie of the Month honors from September nicely) scored a goal to open things up for the club and they did not end in vain, as Valentin Zykov would score the GTG late in the second period. The game would ultimately end in the glorified skills competition, closed out by Evgeny Kuznetsov going full trademark shootout goal and building up a significant amount of speed before slowing things down to a crawl and potting it home on a great release. Flyers prospect Yegor Zavragin stopped 28 of 30 shots on goal in this game in another standout performance. He looked more human in his first ever Army Derby appearance, letting in two preventable goals in regulation and four total on 25 shots against. However, he ultimately came away with yet another win, as soon-to-be Carolina Hurricane and team talisman Alexander Nikishin had the overtime winner on an outstanding shot.

The team was actually somewhat slow out of the gate against Vityaz, not scoring until 9:20 had elapsed in the second period. However, once Sergei Tolchinsky got things going on the power play, they did not let up. He had a three-point night performance with two assists on top of said goal, while Mikhail Grigorenko registered a hat trick, Vladimir Alistrov and Kuznetsov both tallied two assists each, Grigori Kuzmin, Mikhail Vorobyov, and Vasili Glotov (who was missed during his absence and is now registering just under a PPG) all put up 1g-1a. Demidov tallied an assist and had two breakaway looks, while Tony DeAngelo recorded one goal on ten shots on net. Artemy Pleshkov had a fairly quiet day in between the pipes, stopping 23 of 24 but did get challenged at times.

The schedule for the rest of this week is something of an “opposite ends of the spectrum” two-game slate, facing minnows Kunlun Red Star and current Bobrov Division leaders Spartak Moscow.

Next game: Tomorrow, 12:30 PM ET –

@ Kunlun Red Star

HC Sochi:

Off-ice events:

Team member Michal Kristof took to the ice this past Friday for a club in Switzerland. This action was condemned by the KHL. Further, in the league’s official statement, they asserted that Sochi has “various mechanisms that [it] can use to protect its rights in relation to this case.” Read the full statement at this link. Additionally, the club underwent a change to the coaching staff, bidding farewell to assistant coach Alexei Kryukov and bringing on Yuri Dobryshkin (whose résumé is quite impressive, as you will see) as his replacement.

On-ice performance:

Game 16: Friday, October 18th

HC Sochi 4-0 Kunlun Red Star

Game 17: Sunday, October 20th

HC Sochi 4-3 CSKA Moscow (SO)

A four goal explosion in the first period that was initiated by Artur Tyanulin (who remains on a heater) on a play that started with a turnover he created and was facilitated by Kirill Rasskazov (who had three assists) accounted for Sochi’s only offense on the same day as the Kristof fiasco, but it was enough to get the win against Kunlun. The team did well preventing shots, letting Sergei Ivanov pretty easily coast to a 24 save shutout. This win might not seem like much, but Kunlun had their number all last season, nearly sweeping them in the season series. It must have been nice to get that monkey off their back.

However, the next one was even more historically significant. The club’s track record against the vaunted CSKA Moscow is nothing short of horrific and Sochi had to face them on the road. Impressively, goals by Ilya Fedotov, Artyom Volkov, and Daniil Seroukh had them up 3-1 beyond the halfway point of the third, despite having lost two players to injury over the course of the matchup. However, CSKA would have a response, tying the game up with just under 13 seconds remaining despite being very late pulling the goaltender for the extra attacker. Overtime ultimately did not resolve anything and the team relied upon some heroics from Ivanov in between the pipes in the shootout. Timur Khafizov registered what ultimately stood as the shootout winner, as CSKA LW Maxim Sorkin would sail it wide in the final round. This marked the conclusion of a 25-game-losing streak against Russian hockey’s historic juggernauts. If nothing else occurs this season, at least the club and its supporters will always have the memory of this monumental occasion to reflect upon with fondness.

Next game: Today, 10:00 AM ET –

vs. Salavat Yulaev Ufa