ASTANA (Interstat) — SKA Saint Petersburg will look to continue its strong start when it visits Barys Astana on Sunday in Kontinental Hockey League play at Barys Arena.

SKA Saint Petersburg enters with a 6-1 record, including six wins and one loss. Barys Astana is 5-3, with five wins and three losses. The game will be played at Barys Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan. SKA will be the visiting team, and Barys will be the home team.

SKA’s latest result was a 4-3 victory at Traktor Chelyabinsk. Goaltender Sergei Vl. Ivanov made 39 saves on 42 shots in that win, while Matvei Korotky added a goal and an assist and Danil Aimurzin scored. Ivanov, a player to watch for SKA, also recorded a 33-save shutout at HC Sochi and stopped 24 of 25 shots in a win over Lada Togliatti. He has also posted a 24-save performance against Lada Togliatti in another meeting. Ivanov has started multiple games for SKA this season.

Barys enters after a 6-3 home loss to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. Semyon Simonov scored, and Vsevolod Logvin and Damir Britikov each had an assist. Logvin, a player to watch for Barys, has recorded points and shots across the early schedule. The forward had a goal and two assists against Sibir Novosibirsk, added assists in wins at Dynamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, and recorded five shots on goal at Metallurg Magnitogorsk. He also had an assist and two shots on goal in the loss to Neftekhimik, two shots on goal against Amur Khabarovsk, and one assist with five shots and one hit against Salavat Yulaev Ufa.

SKA’s only loss this season came at Spartak Moscow. The club has earned wins over Traktor Chelyabinsk, Shanghai Dragons, HC Sochi, Lada Togliatti twice and Dynamo Moscow. SKA beat Shanghai Dragons 7-2, HC Sochi 1-0, Lada Togliatti 2-1 in overtime, Dynamo Moscow 5-3 and Lada Togliatti 4-3 in overtime. Barys has wins over Dynamo Moscow, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Lada Togliatti, Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Sibir Novosibirsk. Barys beat Dynamo Moscow 4-1, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 5-0, Lada Togliatti 6-0, Salavat Yulaev Ufa 8-6 and Sibir Novosibirsk 7-1. Barys’ defeats have come against Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Amur Khabarovsk. Barys lost to Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3-0 and Amur Khabarovsk 3-1.

The teams will meet for a Kontinental Hockey League matchup with SKA as the visiting team and Barys as the home team at Barys Arena. SKA will next face CSKA Moscow, while Barys will travel to Ak Bars Kazan.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Barys 3, SKA 2.