CSKA opened their homestand with a matchup against the Sibir. Derek Barach sits out tonight as Churkin slots into the lineup for only his second game of the year. He skated on a line with Karnaukhov and Mamin. Nazar Privalov was out of the lineup, having yet to rejoin the team following his stint with Russia's U20 national team. Alexander Samonov started in goal.
We got outplayed in the first period, but CSKA still walked away with the lead. The visitors outshot and outchanced us, forcing Samonov single-handedly keeping the game scoreless on several occasions. Our goalie gave us a chance to win, and the guys capitalized on it. Dmitry Buchelnikov took a feed from Yegor Zamula and fired an accurate shot from the right side. As usual, CSKA turned up the pressure in the offensive zone in the second, and it didn't take long to pay dividends. Buchelnikov stroke again, toe-dragging past a defender without a stick, gliding into the high slot, and sniping it right under the crossbar, leaving the netminder helpless. Churkin had a chance to make it 3–0, but couldn't beat the goaltender. Even without that, CSKA controlled the flow of the game, and a third goal was only a matter of time. Maxim Sorkin delivered it on the power play. The visitors didn't give up, spoiled Samonov's shutout bid, and kept pressing with an empty net. It didn’t help, and Nikolai Kovalenko put the game out of reach, making it 4–1.
