Kazakhstan's hockey club Barys finished regulation time tied 1-1 with SKA, but the hosts won the shootout 2-0. The match took place at the Nikolai Puchkov Memorial tournament, which kicked off in St. Petersburg, reports infohub.kz.

The tournament opened with a "sea derby": SKA-Neva, the farm club of SKA from St. Petersburg, which plays in the All-Russian Hockey League, lost to Admiral from Vladivostok 1-2. For the Far Eastern team, former Barys goaltender Nikita Boyarkin made 25 saves.

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

As the KHL press service informs, during the transfer campaign, the club from Kazakhstan overhauled its goaltending corps, parting ways with three netminders: Nikita Boyarkin, Artyom Shestakov, and Adam Shil. In their place, Hunter Shepard was acquired. The American is set to make his KHL debut, as are forwards Justin Bailey and Garrett Pilon, who joined Barys. Defenseman Riley Walsh and forward Michael Vecchione left the team. Their positions will be filled by Logan Day and Chase Evans Priske. Arkady Shestakov returned from Admiral, having played for the Astana club from 2019 to 2024.

The aforementioned Bailey joined Barys recently. In the past season, the 31-year-old American played 71 games in the AHL. With the San Diego Gulls, he recorded 42 points (25 goals, 17 assists). 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 points (10 goals, 13 assists).

In the match against SKA, the notable newcomer did not stand out. There is little time left for his adaptation: on September 7, Barys will start the 2026/27 KHL season with a home game against Sibir.

After a scoreless first period, the hosts opened the scoring at the 8th minute of the second frame: Nikita Nedopekin shot from the blue line, and Matvei Korotky redirected the puck past Shepard to make it 1-0. In the third period, the Kazakhs equalized: at the 56th minute, Vsevolod Logvin scored from a pass by Samat Daniyar to make it 1-1.

According to tournament regulations, overtime was played, but the score remained unchanged. In the shootout, the army team was more accurate, winning 2-0.

Tomorrow, Barys will play SKA-Neva, and SKA will face Admiral.

The traditional preseason tournament is dedicated to the memory of the legendary goaltender of SKA St. Petersburg, Moscow VVS MVO, CSKA, Dynamo, and the USSR national team, 1956 Olympic champion Nikolai Puchkov. The Memorial was revived in 2014, having previously been held from 1999 to 2008. In the past, besides SKA, teams such as Dynamo Moscow, Ak Bars Kazan, Severstal Cherepovets, Sibir Novosibirsk, and others participated. Over the tournament's history, the hosts have won eight times. Finland's Jokerit won twice. Avangard Omsk and Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg each have one win.