Winners of last nine following first loss of season
Heading into a matchup with No. 2 Spartak Moscow back on March 18th, CSKA Moscow could not have been feeling better about its season. At the time, they were winners of 36 straight contests and the perennial No. 1 team in the WHH Rankings. But Spartak was able to do what no team had done, and defeated CSKA 6-5 in an overtime thriller. Seven skaters from both squads collected two or more points.
Not letting that loss set them back, CSKA rebounded by emerging victorious in its next nine outings since then. Five of those came during an undefeated run at the Vladislav Tretiak Cup last weekend. 12 participating teams were placed in two divisions of six, with CSKA finding a spot in Group B. Joining them were No. 4 SKA Strelna, Metallurg Cherepovets, Kazakhstan, Metallurg Novokuznetsk and Buffalos. In the five group wins, CSKA out-scored opponents 61-11.
No. 9 Ak Bars Kazan entered the championship game with an undefeated group play record as well, but eventually fell to CSKA. But it was not the first tournament CSKA secured a championship this season. They kicked off the 2022-23 campaign with a first-place finish at the Alexander Ovechkin Cup last August.
A large reason CSKA has found success this season is a talented group of skaters led by one of the most dynamic duos in youth hockey. Roman Andreev and Nikita Siniken have been the definition of consistency, each amassing more than 100 points. One or both of their names are found on the final scoresheet often more than once on a daily basis. Andreev has recorded at least one point in every regular season game dating back to August 27th. For Siniken, there has yet to be a contest outside of tournament play where he has failed to register at least one point. Persistent offensive output that has allowed Andreev to score 84 goals and 124 points while Siniken has scored 64 goals and 142 points.
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