SKA Saint Petersburg:

Game 52: Tuesday, February 4th

SKA 3-8 Ak Bars Kazan

Game 53: Thursday, February 6th

SKA 4-2 Vityaz Moscow Region

In the former matchup, there was a good bit of history made with Ivan Demidov tallying the assist that broke his tie with Kirill Kaprizov for most points in a U20 KHL season. However, that and the multi-point nights by Zakhar Bardakov, Alexander Nikishin, and Valentin Zykov were the extent of what there was to be happy about in this matchup. SKA was devoured in the first period, including allowing three goals inside the final seven minutes and one just outside the last ten. This game was decided long before it was over.

SKA then had a much more comfortable victory than their 4-2 scoreline against would suggest. However, I did think that they were a little less tight than they could’ve been. They had mental lapses in this matchup, with the saving grace being that they weren’t against the kind of teams that will make you pay for them. Hopefully, they come out more focused on the other side of this weekend, with a few representatives of the club taking part in the festivities as one would anticipate. Pertaining to the goaltending situation, Flyers draft pick Yegor Zavragin dressed as the backup against Vityaz as Artemy Pleshkov but did not play, as Roman Rotenberg opted to run with Pavel Moisevich. However, this does suggest that he may see some meaningful playing time after All-Star Weekend.

HC Sochi:

Game 51: Sunday, February 2nd

Sochi 2-3 Traktor Chelyabinsk

Game 52: Tuesday, February 4th

Sochi 3-5 Dinamo Minsk

These couple of games were a reminder not to feel optimism when it comes to this team. Against Traktor, they provided hope by tying the game late into the proceedings to force overtime, only to fall in it very quickly. Matched up with Dinamo Minsk, they built up a 3-0 lead over the course of the first period. You can guess what happened next. I actually shut this game off after the second period despite the fact that they had only surrendered one goal across its proceedings. I knew all too well that they did not look strong or cohesive enough to protect any lead in this game no matter how big it was. Sure enough, they surrendered an additional four unanswered goals in the third period and lost. The situation with this team has gotten to the point where they are not even worth paying mind, as it is too predictable what will happen with them night in and night out.

Standings update:

SKA: 2nd in Bobrov Division, 6th in the Western Conference

Sochi: What do you think? At this point, it’s more worth wondering if they will plummet to the bottom of the league table with how horrendous their form has been.

Next games:

SKA: @ Dynamo Moscow – Tuesday, February 11th: 11:30 AM EST

Sochi: vs. Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk – Tuesday, February 11th: 11:30 AM EST

Misc.:

The KHL’s All-Star festivities are set to take place on Saturday, February 8th and Sunday, February 9th.