28 February 2026

Barys Fall to Spartak with Four Young Players in the Lineup

On the final day of winter, Barys visited Spartak in Moscow. Michael Vecchione returned to the lineup, replacing Maksim Mukhametov up front. The Astana side dressed four U23 players for the game — in addition to Semyon Simonov, Kirill Lyapunov, and Beibarys Orazov, 19-year-old Timur Mindubayev made his KHL debut after being called up from the Snezhnye Barsy.

The opening period was eventful. Kirill Savitskiy forced a turnover in the offensive zone and created space for Riley Walsh, who made no mistake with a precise shot into the far corner to open the scoring. Shortly after, Walsh delivered a pinpoint pass to set up Michael Vecchione on the power play for Barys’ second goal.

Spartak responded with sustained pressure, and the puck even crossed the goal line behind Adam Scheel. The officials initially signaled a goal after video review, but a timely coach’s challenge from Barys overturned it due to goaltender interference. Still, the hosts managed to cut the deficit before the break, as Daniil Gutik converted on the man advantage during a counterattack.

The second period belonged to the Red-and-Whites. Spartak seized control and built a comfortable lead with goals from Pavel Poryadin (power play), Nikita Korostelev, and Demid Mansurov.

Early in the third, Andrei Shutov replaced Scheel in net for Barys and kept a clean sheet for nearly eight minutes before Mansurov struck again to complete his brace. Vecchione later missed on a penalty shot, and with 43 seconds remaining, Walsh scored his second of the night to round out the scoring.

On March 2, Mikhail Kravets’ squad will face SKA in Saint Petersburg.

Spartak – Barys 5:3 (1:2, 3:0, 1:1)

0:1 – 01:07 – Walsh (Savitskiy)

0:2 – 10:46 – Vecchione (Walsh, Willman) PP

1:2 – 18:23 – Gutik (Poryadin, Rubtsov)

2:2 – 24:18 – Poryadin (Filin, Vishnevsky) PP

3:2 – 29:56 – Korostelev (Filin, Sobolev)

4:2 – 38:35 – Mansurov (Orlov, Vishnevsky)

5:2 – 47:49 – Mansurov (Pivchulin)

5:3 – 59:17 – Walsh (McCoshen, Vecchione)

Goaltenders: Georgiev – Scheel (Shutov 40:00–60:00)

Megasport Arena. 8,700 spectators