Almaz and Mikhaylov Academy U20 met in the MHL on Saturday, with the visitors taking a 2:4 victory. The match took place on 20 September 2026, and the result leaves both sides still searching for their first points of the campaign.
By then, the picture was clear enough. Almaz had played four games and sat top of the table, though with zero points to show for it. Mikhaylov Academy U20 were in ninth after three outings, also without a point. Cup football has its own rules, and junior hockey seems to follow a similar logic — results matter more than position at this stage.
And here's the thing about these opening weeks. Almaz had tasted success before, beating Red Machine 6:1 and Lokomotiv 3:2 in their previous outings. But they had also lost 1:2 to SKA-Academy on 7 September. The home side's clean-sheet run came to an end against a visitors' side that had struggled to find any rhythm of their own.
Mikhaylov Academy U20 had shown flashes. A 6:0 win against Sakhalin Sharks looked promising on paper, but losses to Dynamo Moscow and Dynamo St Petersburg told a different story. They came into this fixture having lost three straight games, including a narrow 1:2 defeat to MHC Spartak just days earlier.
To be fair, the scoreline does not tell the whole story. Four goals for the visitors against two at home suggests they were the sharper side, but without detailed statistics it is impossible to say whether they created more chances or simply took them better. The result sits at the top of the table for now, though the table says very little.
What it does mean is that Almaz remain in first place by default, having played one more game than their nearest rivals. Mikhaylov Academy U20 stay in ninth, but they have now ended their losing streak. That price has gone up for them — they have something to build on rather than nothing.
