Astana's Barys defeated Novosibirsk's Sibir 7:1 on home ice in the opening match of the KHL 2026/27 regular season. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Head coach Mikhail Kravets expressed satisfaction with the team's interaction and highlighted the players' performance in various game situations. He specifically praised goaltender Hunter Shepard, who handled several dangerous moments early in the game.

"A victory against a good team. The guys showed they can do a lot; their months of training were not in vain. Now we need to build on this game and try to play like this every match," Kravets was quoted as saying by the KHL press service.

According to the coach, the lopsided result was a product of teamwork.

"I'm glad the goalie, especially early in the first period, made two tough saves. There was interaction among all players: the goalie made saves, others scored, and a third group killed penalties. That's team play."

Shepard stopped 28 of 29 shots on goal. His saves early in the second period were particularly crucial, as Barys held a narrow lead and Semen Koshelev and Sergei Osipov had chances to score. After that, the hosts scored five consecutive goals in one twenty-minute span.

The match was attended by 9,952 spectators. Kravets stressed that starting the season with a win in front of nearly full stands at Barys Arena was especially important for the team.

"The most important thing was to win in front of such a crowd. Our main job is to please the fans and our loved ones. And ourselves, too."

Barys also came close to their first shutout of the season. After Garrett Pilon's goal at 47:00 made it 7:0, Daniil Valitov scored Sibir's only goal at 54:00. Kravets noted that the team had no specific instruction to keep a clean sheet.

"The only instruction was to keep playing the right way and work for the future."

The coach also positively assessed the debut of newcomers. American forward Justin Bailey scored a double, Chase Priski netted one goal, and Garrett Pilon recorded a goal and an assist. Bailey, Vsevolod Logvin, and Semyon Simonov each finished the game with three points.

Speaking about young players, Kravets highlighted one of Barys' combinations, comparing it to the famous Soviet line of Vladimir Petrov – Boris Mikhailov – Valeri Kharlamov.

"We executed a Petrov-Mikhailov-Kharlamov today, scored a beautiful one-touch goal. And the whole game was like that. The key is consistency. We know what they can do, and they do it. The main thing is to do it every game."

Kravets also cautioned against overrating preseason tournament results, saying the regular season will be the true test of the team's readiness.

"Sometimes teams win preseason cups and then don't even make the top eight. There is some truth that you need to have a good preseason, but the main thing is to work, get into shape, and gain game practice. In the regular season, it's a battle for points and division standing, and players bring out other qualities."

Barys scored five goals in the second period, and the final score was 7:1. In addition to Bailey's double, goals came from Logvin, Dinmukhamed Kaiyrzhan, Simonov, Priski, and Pilon.

Astana's next match will also be at home. On September 9, Kravets' team will host Ufa's Salavat Yulaev, and on September 12, they will play Khabarovsk's Amur.