Kazakhstan's Barys suffered their third consecutive defeat in the Kontinental Hockey League, losing 4-1 to Ak Bars in Kazan under head coach Mikhail Kravets, infohub.kz reports.
The omen that Barys always win when they open the scoring did not hold at Tatneft Arena. Vsevolod Logvin's goal midway through the first period was completely erased just 2.5 minutes after the intermission.
Between the 22nd and 25th minutes, Ak Bars beat Andrei Shutov three times. The frustrated goaltender was pulled in favor of Hunter Shepard. The American ended up keeping a clean sheet. The hosts added another goal into the empty net late in the game, with Shepard watching from the bench at that moment.
KONTINENTAL HOCKEY LEAGUE 2026/27
Eastern Conference, September 30
🏒 AK BARS (Kazan, Russia) – BARYS (Astana, Kazakhstan) 4:1 (0:1, 3:0, 1:0)
Goals: Logvin (Day, Simonov) 08:53 (0:1), Katelevsky (Yakupov) 21:54 (1:1), Denisenko (Yarullin, Evseev) 23:20 (2:1), Miller (Lyamkin, Yakupov) 24:14 (3:1), Semenov (Denisenko, Yarullin) 59:14-en (4:1)
After the 4-1 loss, Mikhail Kravets' team remained fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. However, a whole group of teams is pressing hard from below.
As last season showed, it is best not to make a habit of losing streaks in the KHL. If the team continues in the same vein, Barys' fast start will quickly be forgotten.
The KHL regular season, which began on September 5, will run until March 20, 2027. Each of the 22 teams will play 68 games. Based on the regular-season results, eight teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs.
Barys have two matches left in their current road trip — in Nizhnekamsk and Moscow.