Kazakhstan's Barys tied 1-1 in regulation against local SKA at the tournament named after legendary USSR national team goaltender Nikolai Puchkov, which started in St. Petersburg. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

In the shootout, luck smiled on the hosts – 2:0.

The Memorial began with a "sea derby." SKA-VMF, the farm club of the St. Petersburg army team, which plays in the All-Russian Hockey League, lost to Admiral – 1:2. For the Far Eastern team, former Barys player Nikita Boyarkin shone with 25 saves.

🏒 SKA-VMF (St. Petersburg, Russia) – ADMIRAL (Vladivostok, Russia) 1:2 (0:1, 0:0, 1:1)

🏒 SKA (St. Petersburg, Russia) – BARYS (Astana, Kazakhstan) 2:1 SO (0:0, 1:0, 0:1, 0:0, 1:0). Shootout 2:0

Before traveling to St. Petersburg, Barys finished last at another preseason tournament – the Republic of Bashkortostan Cup. In Ufa, our team lost to local Salavat Yulaev (1:4) and Amur from Khabarovsk (1:5) and defeated Tolyatti's Lada (2:1).

"As part of the transfer campaign, the club from Kazakhstan made a restructuring in the goaltending line, parting ways with three goalkeepers at once – Nikita Boyarkin, Artyom Shestakov, and Adam Shil," the KHL press service informs. "Hunter Shepard was acquired as a replacement. The American is set to debut in the KHL, as are forwards Justin Bailey and Garrett Pilon, who joined Barys. Defenseman Riley Walsh and forward Michael Vecchione left the team. Logan Day and Chase Evans Priski will try to fill their positions. Arkady Shestakov returned from Admiral, having defended the colors of Astana from 2019 to 2024."

The aforementioned Bailey joined Barys quite recently. In the past season, the 31-year-old American played 71 games in the AHL championship. With the San Diego Gulls, he scored 42 (25+17) points. In the NHL, the forward played for the San Jose Sharks, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Vancouver Canucks. In total, he has 141 NHL games and 23 (10+13) scoring points.

In the match against SKA, the famous newcomer did not stand out in any way. There is very little time left for his adaptation. On September 7, Barys will start the KHL 2026/27 season with a home match against Sibir.

After a scoreless first period, the hosts opened the scoring on the 8th minute of the next frame through Nikita Nedopekin and Matvey Korotky. The first shot from the blue line, and the second redirected the puck into Shepard's net from the slot – 1:0. In the third period, the Kazakhs equalized. At the 56th minute, Vsevolod Logvin scored from Samat Daniyar's pass – 1:1.

According to tournament regulations, overtime was played, but the score remained unchanged. The army men executed the shootout better – 2:0.

Tomorrow Barys will play against SKA-VMF, and SKA will face Admiral.

The traditional preseason tournament is dedicated to the memory of the legendary goaltender of St. Petersburg SKA, Moscow VVS MO, CSKA, Dynamo, and the USSR national team, 1956 Olympic champion Nikolai Puchkov.

The Puchkov Memorial was revived in 2014, and before that it was held from 1999 to 2008. Previously, in addition to SKA, the tournament featured Moscow Dynamo, Kazan Ak Bars, Cherepovets Severstal, Novosibirsk Sibir, and other clubs.

In the history of the tournament, the hosts have won eight times. Finland's Jokerit won twice. Omsk Avangard and Yekaterinburg Avtomobilist each have one win.