After four rounds of the regular season in Kazakhstan's top hockey league, a new duo of leaders has emerged: Karaganda's Saryarka and Petropavlovsk's Kulager share the top spot in the standings, reports infohub.kz.
The first two rounds of the 2026/2027 Pro Hokei Ligasy season revealed four leaders: Astana's Nomad, Ust-Kamenogorsk's Torpedo, Kulager, and Saryarka each won their two home games and collected four points. However, the situation changed in the third round: on Saturday, the home teams in Karaganda and Petropavlovsk proved stronger — Saryarka defeated Aktobe, and Kulager beat Atyrau's Beibarys. Both matches ended in regulation time, allowing these clubs to become sole leaders by Sunday, September 6.
On Sunday, Nomad and Torpedo played their third-round matches, and both favorites stumbled. Defending champion Nomad sensationally lost at home to Rudny's Gornyak in overtime, 3:4, while Torpedo fell to Kokshetau's Arlan in regulation, 2:3. As a result, Nomad trails the leaders by one point, and the Ust-Kamenogorsk team by two. Saryarka and Kulager then faced the same opponents in the fourth round, and they did not miss the chance to strengthen their positions.
Saryarka solved the task quickly: within the first 15 minutes of the second game against Aktobe, the Karaganda side scored three times — Ruslan Demin netted a brace, and Danila Karaban added another. Aktobe managed to cut the deficit to one before the first intermission thanks to Alexei Kosorez's power-play goal, but in the second period Karaban scored again, restoring the three-goal lead. The game then turned into a goal fest: the visitors would pull within two, and the hosts would extend the lead again.
By the 35th minute, Saryarka had full control, and the teams went to the second break with the score 8:3. Midway through the final period, Yegor Smolyaninov scored the ninth goal, leaving no doubt about the outcome. Aktobe showed character and scored two more before the final buzzer, but it did not affect the result — 9:5 in favor of Saryarka, who now have 8 points and lead the standings.
Kulager also reached 8 points, but their win over Beibarys in the second game was harder — 2:1 in overtime. The Petropavlovsk team shares the lead with Karaganda but trails in goal difference. Both leaders face tough tests ahead: Saryarka will host Ust-Kamenogorsk's Torpedo on September 10-11, while Torpedo will try to avenge their loss to Arlan in Kokshetau on September 7. Kulager will travel to Rudny to face Gornyak on September 11-12, while Gornyak will meet Nomad in Astana on September 7.