Barys Astana vs SKA St. Petersburg Prediction 13 February 2025

🔊 Will the Kazakh hockey players be able to break another streak of failures? Barys has long lost their chances of making the playoffs and is literally just playing out the season. Nevertheless, the "bars" have recently managed to put up a fight against their opponents. SKA, on the other hand, is preparing for the decisive confrontations of the Gagarin Cup but risks being without home-ice advantage in the first round. Currently, the prospects for the St. Petersburg team look very bleak.

📊 Head-to-head

In the current regular season, the opponents have met only once. In early December, the army team barely secured a victory on their home ice with a score of 1:0. The game was uneventful and had a rather sluggish nature. The winning puck was scored by Arseniy Gritsyuk in the middle of the first period. In the upcoming confrontation, the Russian will not be able to help his teammates as he has been injured and has missed six matches already.

🔵 Barys

Galym Mambetaliyev's team decided to make a loud exit and, towards the end of the regular season, started occasionally earning points. For instance, they twice put up a fight against Admiral (2:3 SO, 3:4 OT), as well as challenged Ak Bars (4:5 OT) and Avtomobilist (2:3 SO). They even managed to secure one victory in their last ten matches, against Sibir (4:3 OT). However, these local successes pale in comparison to the complete failure this season. The club from Kazakhstan is once again at a crossroads, and what to expect from them in the 2025/26 season is entirely unclear.

🔴 SKA

The army team from the banks of the Neva continues to be in turmoil. After a series of fairly successful matches, Roman Rotenberg's team lost twice in their last three encounters. The complete failure against Ak Bars (3:8) stands out. The team looked completely lost in front of their own fans. The visit to the capital to face Dynamo was also unsuccessful (1:3). On the eve of the playoffs, the usual Western hegemon does not appear to be a favorite. Everything points to the club's participation in the Gagarin Cup being quite brief. The mass acquisition of star players led to impressive scoring (197 goals) but was not a panacea.

🔗 Probable lineups

Barys: Boyarkin - Khokhlov, Antipin - Setdikov, Nikolisin, Zhafyarov

SKA: Moisevich - Zaitsev, Yudin - Bardakov, Grigorenko, Zykov

🥅 Goalkeepers

Barys goalkeeper Nikita Boyarkin participated in the KHL All-Star Game and even managed to become its winner. This is a well-deserved achievement for a player who is the only bright spot in the Kazakh team. The goalkeeper consistently maintains a save percentage of 90%, but his teammates regularly squander all his efforts.

SKA goalkeeper Pavel Moisevich continues to play under colossal pressure from the coaching staff. In St. Petersburg, just a few mistakes are enough to end up on the bench. This is exactly what happened with the Belarusian in the confrontation with Dynamo. Three conceded pucks were enough for Egor Zavragin to replace him in goal. This substitution did not lead to success for the army team.

📝 Editorial prediction

Barys in its current state is unlikely to provide worthy resistance to the best attacking line in the KHL. SKA regularly sends a bundle of pucks into opponents' nets, and the upcoming match is unlikely to be an exception. After losing in the capital, the army team will try to lift their spirits. The visitors still have a chance to be among the leaders of the West, and they will surely strive for it. Our key bet is SKA win with a handicap (-1.5).