Hockey club Barys lost 3:6 to Neftekhimik in Astana in a game rescheduled from Friday due to national mourning. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to a tradition that has spontaneously developed in the 2026/27 KHL season, if Barys opens the scoring in a match, it invariably wins. Today it turned out that the omen also works in reverse. In the current championship, the Kazakhstanis conceded first three times and lost every time.
In the 7th minute, Damir Zhafyarov of Nizhnekamsk, who played for Barys last season, scored a goal that proved fateful.
🏒 BARYS (Astana, Kazakhstan) – NEFTEKHIMIK (Nizhnekamsk, Russia) 3:6 (0:1, 0:4, 3:1)
Goals: Zhafyarov (Belozerov, Nikolishin) 06:08 (0:1), Seleznev (Nadvorny, Sokolov) 23:55 (0:2), Tochilkin (Zhafyarov, Nikolishin) 25:06 (0:3), Petunin (Eremenko, Bikmullin) 28:19-PP (0:4), Sokolov (Bikmullin) 38:22-SH (0:5), Pilon (Priskie, Thompson) 41:10-PP (1:5), Simonov (Logvin, Sarkenov) 45:12 (2:5), Tyanulin (Khlystov, Bikmullin) 46:39 (2:6), Omirbekov (Britikov, Kairzhan) 50:42 (3:6)
With the score at 0:3 in the second period, Astana's goaltender Andrei Shutov, who had performed well in recent matches, gave up his place in the net to Hunter Shepard. The American ended up conceding just as many. This once again confirms the thesis that Barys currently has two equal goaltenders.
Trailing 0:5, Mikhail Kravets' charges remembered that they can (and do quite well!) play hockey. Garrett Pilon, Semyon Simonov and Alikhan Omirbekov each beat Yaroslav Ozolin once.
The visitors, however, were not offended. The victory in Astana allowed them to temporarily top the Eastern Conference standings.
The KHL regular championship, which started on September 5, will last until March 20, 2027. Each of the 22 teams will play 68 games. Based on the results of the regular season, 8 teams from each conference earn the right to participate in the playoffs.
Tomorrow the Astana team will host SKA at Barys Arena, and then go on a tour along the route Kazan – Nizhnekamsk – Moscow.