Time to prove a point

4 November 2024

This week the Dragons go off in search of revenge. Our latest home stand kicks off with games against two teams that handed us recent heavy losses – but against which we also have recent victories to celebrate. Then we face Spartak for the first time this season, looking to build on a 5-3 win last time the Red-and-Whites came to Mytishchi.

SKA St. Petersburg (h), Nov. 4, 1700 Moscow Time

Last time out: Do we have to talk about that one? Instead of recalling a 0-8 home loss, let’s think happier thoughts. Like a spectacular 5-4 win in Petersburg at the end of September, probably our best performance of the season.

Familiar faces: Three of the Dragons could face their former club. Nail Yakupov’s 111 games for SKA make him the most significant ex-factor. Defenseman Yury Pautov had a short spell in Petersburg in 2021/22, while goalie Konstantin Volkov began his career there but didn’t get on the ice in the KHL.

Setting the scene: We’re not the only team to have suffered against SKA this term. Roman Rotenberg’s stacked roster is full of goals and has plundered 94 in 23 games. That’s head and shoulders above the rest of the league: Torpedo, the second highest scorer, has 77, modest by comparison. SKA has scored eight on three occasions this season, two of them coming in run of five games that produced 5+ goals. Yet, while offense wins games, defense tends to win championships. And that could be SKA’s Achilles Heel. The Petersburg club has allowed more goals than Sochi, currently at the foot of the Western Conference. That’s possibly why, for all the firepower in the Northern capital, Lokomotiv enjoys a commanding lead in the standings.

Severstal Cherepovets (h), Nov. 8, 1930 Moscow Time

Last time out: Allowing a goal after seven seconds rather summed up this one. It mostly got worse from there, but Ian McCoshen’s first KHL goal was a Red Star highlight in a 2-7 loss. We prefer to recall our 3-0 win in Cherepovets three weeks earlier.

Familiar faces: As before, Severstal’s Alexei Kruchinin is the only ex-Dragon involved in this one.

Setting the scene: Andrei Kozyrev’s Severstal could prove to be the dark horse of the West this season. At times his team has been as high as third in the standings and when the offense fires it can hurt any opponent. Much like last season, Kirill Pilipenko and Danil Aimurzin pose the biggest threat and we saw that first-hand in last week’s game. Pilipenko had 3 (2+1) points, Aimurzin 2 (1+1). Keeping them quiet is the key to competing with Severstal, just as we did back in October.

Spartak Moscow (h), Nov. 10, 1700 Moscow Time

Last season: We split our four games against Spartak last term, defeating the Red-and-Whites once at home and once on the road. A 4-3 win in our season opener got the Dragons off to a bright start in Moscow, then in November two goals from Luke Lockhart helped us to a 5-3 home success.

Familiar faces: None

Setting the scene: Once again, Alexei Zhamnov’s attack-minded Spartak is riding high in the Western Conference. True, the offense isn’t quite as sizzling as last season: the team’s return of 66 goals in 21 games is more than respectable, but remains in line with most of the top five. However, the defense gives cause for concern: it’s unclear whether Patrik Rybar or Dmitry Nikolayev is the first-choice goalie, and when things start to go wrong Spartak can leak goals. On five occasions, the Red-and-Whites have allowed five in a game – a lot for a team with aspirations at the upper end of the standings.