Revenge missions

6 October 2024

Week six of the KHL season has the Dragons out on the road again. This time, we’re up against three teams that enjoyed early-season wins over our guys. For Torpedo, that seemed to trigger a hot streak, Lokomotiv remains as consistent as ever, while games with Severstal tend to mean goals at both ends. Can we avenge those recent losses and move back into the top eight?

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (a), Oct. 7, 1930 Moscow Time

Last time out: We entertained Torpedo a couple of weeks ago and suffered a 2-4 reverse. Despite a rough start to the game, the Dragons rallied in the third period to make a contest of it with goals from Luke Lockhart and Spencer Foo.

Familiar faces: the only player to have represented both teams at present is Torpedo forward Igor Larionov Jr. However, he’s currently on the injured list and unlikely to feature on Monday.

Setting the scene: Torpedo’s win in Mytishchi proved to be something of a turning point. Since then, Igor Larionov’s team has added three further victories and scored 21 goals in the process. Another 4-2 win in Vladivostok was followed by an eye-catching 7-2 success at Amur. Then came a 10-1 demolition of Barys on Sep. 30. Suddenly, Nizhny Novgorod leads the KHL in goals with 46 markers from 12 games. Maxim Letunov has been a key player in that surge, producing 10 (2+8) points in his last five outings. Fellow forward Denis Podchivalov, who made more than 50 KHL appearances without a goal, finally opened his account with a hat-trick against Amur and followed up with another in that thrashing of Barys. Torpedo hasn’t played so far in October: will we face a fresh opponent, or a rusty one after a full week of rest?

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (a), Oct. 9, 1930 Moscow Time

Last time out: It’s much like the Torpedo story: we hosted Lokomotiv in September and suffered a 2-6 loss. Third-period goals from Jake Chelios and Colin Campbell offered some late consolation after a slow start from our guys.

Familiar faces: Defenseman Alexei Kozhevnikov joined the Dragons on loan from Lokomotiv in time to make his debut at Amur on Sep. 15. The 22-year-old was on the fringes of Igor Nikitin’s team in the past two seasons, but is gaining more experience at Red Star. In his last game for us, he had more than 20 minutes on the ice.

Setting the scene: Lokomotiv continues to lead the way in the KHL. At the time of writing, the Railwaymen have 21 points, three clear of Eastern Conference leader Traktor or a Spartak team that is currently second in the West. As usual with Igor Nikitin’s teams, success is built on defensive foundations: with just 16 goals allowed so far, Loko is the only team yet to give up 20 goals this season. Defense also translates into attack; literally, where Slovak international Martin Gernat is concerned. He has four assists in the past five games and 10 (2+8) points for the season to lead the team in scoring. Alexander Radulov is next on the list with 9 (5+4) and the veteran forward remains a powerful offensive threat.

Severstal Cherepovets (a), Oct. 11, 1900 Moscow Time

Last time out: Once again, we have a revenge mission in mind when we travel to Cherepovets. Our 2-4 loss to Severstal at the start of the season was  tough one to take, with the visitor scoring twice in the last four minutes to snap a 2-2 tie.

Familiar faces: Alexei Kruchinin, who scored twice in his team’s 4-3 win over SKA at the weekend, was one of the many players to represent KRS in 2020/21.

Setting the scene: Severstal may be unpredictable in some respects, but goals are always on the cards when Andrei Kozyrev’s team takes to the ice. So far, there have been 77 markers in 13 games: an average just shy of six a game. The problem, though, is that are almost equally shared, with Severstal scoring 38 and allowing 39. The Steelmen also have just two wins in six and are only two points ahead of Red Star at the time of writing. The key attacking threat, as last season, comes from Kirill Pilipenko (eight goals, 14 points) and Danil Aimurzin (seven goals, 14 points). Since our previous encounter, Joe Duszak has joined the D-core. The American previously played for Dinamo Minsk in the KHL and quickly made a reputation as a two-way presence. He has 4 (1+3) points in seven games so far.