Sakhalin Sharks will play at home for the first time with HC SKA-Karelia

For the first time in history, the Sakhalin Sharks will host opponents from Karelia on their ice. Matches on the ice of the Arena City complex against the SKA-Karelia team will begin on Sunday, February 5, at 16:00, and on Monday, February 6, at 19:00 (local time), the press service of the island hockey club.

Rival

SKA-Karelia is a rookie club of OLIMPBET of the JHL Championship. Previously, the team from Kondopoga played in the NMHL Championship for three seasons, where it reached the playoffs twice. The team is led by 33-year-old specialist Mikhail Sevastyanov, one of the youngest coaches in the MHL, who has been working in Kondopoga for the fourth season. Now, under his leadership, SKA-Karelia is in last place in the Silver Division of the Western Conference, the team has 19 points after 46 matches.

The Karelian team can lose big, as it was in the games with Loko (0:10) and Dynamo Moscow (0:11), or maybe make a sensation – defeat the Red Army (5:4 OT), Mikhailov Academy (2:1 and 4:2) or Russian Knights (5:1).

Still, SKA-Karelia fails more often in their games – 38 losses in 46 games look like a terrible indicator. This team is an outsider of the League in many aspects of the game. For the first time in a season Karelian hockey players went to the Far East. In games with “Typhoon” in Vladivostok, they suffered two defeats – 3:5 and 2:5.

Meeting history

Sakhalin Sharks and SKA-Karelia will play on Sakhalin for the first time. In two matches in January that the teams played in Kondopoga, the hockey players of the island team celebrated the victory – 3:1 and 6:5.

Rival leader

The brightest player in the last five matches of SKA-Karelia is Aristarkh Falkovsky – the striker scored 5 (2 + 3) points and significantly improved his statistics for the season. Now the forward has 24 (12+12) points in 37 matches for the club from Kondopoga.

Special Player

Denis Konyashkin is a true giant defender in SKA-Karelia. The defense player with a height of 206 centimeters and a weight of 100 kg is the team’s top scorer-defender (11 points) and one of the team’s longest-playing hockey players (average playing time is 20:11 per match). However, at the same time, he has the worst utility indicator in the team – a terrifying -26.

About Me

The Sakhalin Sharks have won 8 of the last 10 matches. The team leaves itself hope for a play-in, even if thanks to the very successful game of all competitors – mathematical. Now the team has 50 points after 47 matches and is sixth in the division. The gap from the top three is 10 points.

In recent games, Alexander Morozov showed himself excellently – he still leads the OLIMPBET sniper race of the JHL Championship with 32 goals in the asset, and also pursues the League’s top scorer Daniil Sotishvili from Dynamo-Shinnik, lagging behind him by only 4 points (53 points against 57 points).

Morozov’s partner in the attack, powerful forward Timofey Barsukov, also scored a powerful move. He is only two goals behind the second position in the list of the best scorers of the League and four points behind his partner in the scorers race – both there and there Barsukov remains fifth in the ranking (22 goals, 49 points).

good match

Immediately after the end of the game on February 5 between the Sakhalin Sharks and SKA-Karelia teams, island sledge hockey players will enter the ice of the Arena City complex and hold an exhibition match for all fans. All fans of the MHL team will be able to get acquainted with sledge hockey live and support the young athletes of the Sakhalin Lions Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Sea Lions Kholmsk teams.

Time

Matches between the Sakhalin Sharks and SKA-Karelia in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk will begin on February 5 at 16:00 Sakhalin time (08:00 Moscow time) and on February 6 at 19:00 Sakhalin time (11:00 Moscow time). Admission to all home games of the Sakhalin Sharks team is free.

Both matches will also be shown live on the official YouTube channel of the MHL.