Sochi — Lokomotiv on February 14: history of meetings and forecast for the match

Sochi and Lokomotiv in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) regular season on Saturday, February 14. The match will be held at the Bolshoi Sports Palace in Sochi. It starts at 17:30 Moscow time. The pre—match layouts, the history of the confrontation and the forecast for the outcome of the meeting are in the Izvestia material.

The history of team meetings and the results of previous games

Earlier this season, Lokomotiv never allowed Sochi to hit their own goal in two face-to-face meetings. The matches ended with the score 5:0 and 3:0.

Sochi's standings look depressing, with the team firmly entrenched in 11th place in the West, having scored only 39 points by mid-February. The last few weeks have been emotionally difficult. Shocking for the fans was the defeat away from Siberia with a score of 1:10. Head coach Vladimir Krikunov had to publicly apologize for the team's defeat. The statistics of the last 10 meetings show eight defeats, which confirms the presence of a deep systemic crisis.

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Razin's team leads by a wide margin in the regular season, and the fight for entry into the playoffs is almost over.

However, after the setback in Siberia, Sochi unexpectedly beat Neftekhimik with a score of 5.:3. The victory for the Southerners was brought by the exceptional play of goalkeeper Pavel Khomchenko, who deflected 55 shots, pulling out the match. So this is not an indicator of the recovery of the whole team.

At the same time, the Yaroslavl team is at the top of the table with 77 points in the asset. The team is definitely making the playoffs, and the figure of 1.4 goals conceded per match in 2026 looks fantastic. Head coach Bob Hartley has built a mechanism that works almost without failures. It is noteworthy that for him the game against Sochi will be the 350th in his KHL career.

The Railwaymen are approaching a new confrontation after losing away to Dinamo Minsk with a score of 2:4. Prior to that, Yaroslavl had won seven of eight meetings, demonstrating benchmark hockey. Goalkeeper Daniil Isaev remains the key figure in the defensive formations. His deflected shot percentage, hovering around 93, makes him one of the most reliable goalkeepers in the KHL.

Forecast for the match

Sochi has not won on home ice since January 5, and the team has suffered five consecutive defeats. The defense is clearly sagging. Sochi's attack also remains one of the weakest in the league on average, barely concealing two goals per game.

Although Lokomotiv had some rough spots on the road, the difference in class and structure of the game is too great. The Yaroslavl team combines stable execution of moments with reliable goal defense and a clear advantage in personal meetings. In face-to-face matches, Lokomotiv traditionally has the initiative, maintaining a winning and scoring streak against Sochi for several seasons.

Starting lineups

Sochi

Forwards: Pavel Dedunov, Nikolai Polyakov, Timur Hafizov, Max Ellis, Dmitry Kagarlitsky, Matvey Guskov, Jean-Christophe Bodin, William Bitten, Daniil Seroukh, Egor Petukhov, Rafael Bikmullin, Sergey Popov, Fedor Kuzmin, Fedor Avramov.

Defenders: Vasily Machulin, Artyom Volkov, Ilya Nikolaev, Ilya Khokhlov, Anton Malyshev, Cameron Lee.

Goalkeepers: Pavel Khomchenko, Ilya Samsonov.

"Locomotive"

Forwards: Alexander Radulov, Egor Surin, Maxim Shalunov, Artur Kayumov, Georgy Ivanov, Maxim Berezkin, Richard Panik, Nikita Kiryanov, Byron Fraz, Artyom Kuzin, Pavel Kraskovsky, Alexander Volkov, Alexander Polunin,

Defenders: Andrey Sergeev, Rushan Rafikov, Daniil Misyul, Alexander Yelesin, Nikita Cherepanov, Alexey Bereglazov, Mark Ulyev.

Goalkeepers: Alexey Melnichuk, Daniil Isaev.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.