Nikita Gusev captained HC Sochi in his club debut on October 3, 2026, but Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod routed the hosts 6-0 at the Bolshoy Ice Palace in Sirius, extending Sochi’s losing streak to five matches in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Torpedo delivered a decisive 6-0 shutout against the Kontinental Hockey League’s Western Conference last-place team at the Bolshoy Ice Palace, outshooting Sochi 40 to 29 and building on an earlier 3-0 victory in Nizhny Novgorod on September 24.
Torpedo Routs Sochi in Nikita Gusev’s Debut as Captain
Sochi welcomed star newcomer Nikita Gusev to the lineup just a day after signing the forward, handing the Olympic champion an immediate captain’s patch and a spot on the top line alongside Timur Khafizov and Egor Petukhov. Aleksei Isakov made minimal lineup adjustments for the visitors, replacing Nikita Shavin with Amir Garayev in the fourth line and inserting Maxim Agafonov while leaving Sergei Skvortsov out. The hosts dropped their fifth regulation loss, having managed just seven goals across their previous five outings.
Head coach Andrei Mironov addressed the home crowd after the final horn, pointing to an avoidable breakdown in focus that derailed the squad early. We came out, I suspect, with a poor attitude, conceding unnecessary goals that knock you out of the rut,
Mironov said, I would like to apologize to the fans for such an unexpressive game. When asked about the decision to name the veteran forward captain, the coach explained that the team wanted to try an experienced player who can lead the squad forward and carry the responsibility.
Torpedo Capitalizes on Early Bounces and Special Teams
The visiting side capitalized quickly when Pavel Kraskovsky opened the scoring in the first period through a fortunate deflection off a Sochi defender that bounced past goaltender Petr Andreyanov.
Amir Garayev netted his first goal of the season on a counterattack to claim his 100th career KHL point.
For us, it turned out to be a rather productive match, which is always pleasing. The puck went in today. Great that we scored. In the second period, there were many moments when the game could have swung, especially the penalties I didn’t like. Great that we survived while shorthanded. I think we played a good third period.
Sochi Slumps in the Standings as Torpedo Continues Road Trip
Sochi sits in 11th place in the West with four points through 11 matches and a 7-18 goal differential.
Torpedo will wrap up its current road trip on October 5 in Minsk against Dinamo, carrying a two-game season aggregate of 9-0 against Sochi into the remainder of the autumn calendar following a previous 3-0 decision in Nizhny Novgorod.
