Astana's Barys hockey club claimed another resounding Kontinental Hockey League victory, thrashing Gagarin Cup holder Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 5-0 on the road, infohub.kz reports.
Lokomotiv, which finished last season as the KHL's top team, made a confident start to the new campaign, winning all six of its opening games and, under Dmitry Kvartalnov, leading not only the Western Conference but also the league's overall standings.
In those six opening games, the Yaroslavl side conceded just seven goals. Five of them came in a single home game against Barys.
KHL 2026/27. Eastern Conference. September 20.
LOKOMOTIV (Yaroslavl, Russia) – BARYS (Astana, Kazakhstan) 0:5 (0:2, 0:2, 0:1).
Goals: Massie (Pilon) 15:10 (0:1), Logan (Simonov, Logvin) 18:35 (0:2), Bailey (Pilon, Morelli) 36:53 (0:3), Shaikhmeddenov (Shestakov, Massie) 38:40 (0:4), Simonov (Dikhanbek, Priske) 41:45 (0:5).
By a tradition that has taken shape this season, whenever Mikhail Kravets's team opens the scoring, it wins. Defenseman Jake Massie's goal in the 16th minute thus proved the turning point. From then on the visitors scored goals of every kind: Day Logan, breaking away one-on-one, and Justin Bailey, deflecting the puck after a Garrett Pilon slap shot.
After Ansar Shaikhmeddenov's goal, scored lacrosse-style from behind the net, Lokomotiv goaltender Alexei Melnichuk headed for the bench. Notably, four clubs have now pulled their goalie in games against Barys — Sibir, Salavat Yulaev, Lada and Lokomotiv.
Semyon Simonov put the finishing touch on the result early in the third period after a solo rush the length of the ice. 5-0 — another superb win for the Kazakh side!
The KHL regular season, which began on September 5, runs until March 20, 2027. Each of the 22 teams will play 68 games. At the end of the regular season, eight teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs.
Barys's first road trip of the 2026/27 season will end with a game in Moscow.