Dragons Close Out Preseason Against Ak Bars, Turn Attention To Regular Season
The Shanghai Dragons wrapped up their preseason Sunday with a 4–0 loss to Ak Bars Kazan in the fifth-place game of the Moscow Mayor’s Cup at Megasport Arena.
Shanghai welcomed Dmitrij Jaskin, Nic Petan and Brennan Menell back into the lineup for the preseason finale, while Nikita Popugayev and Nick Cicek were given the day off. Amir Miftakhov returned to the crease, facing his former club in the Dragons’ final tune-up before the start of the KHL regular season.
Ak Bars Sets the Early Pace
Ak Bars came out aggressively, playing at a high tempo and applying pressure deep in Shanghai territory to make it difficult for the Dragons to cleanly break out of their own zone.
Shanghai successfully killed off the first two — and even created chances of its own while shorthanded. Vladimir Kuznetsov had another quality opportunity to open the scoring but couldn’t convert.
The third penalty proved costly.
At 18:17, Daniil Katelevsky got his stick on a puck around the crease and redirected it past Miftakhov to give Ak Bars a 1–0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Dragons Push, Denisenko Strikes Twice
Shanghai turned up the pressure in the second.
The Dragons were much more aggressive on the forecheck, forcing turnovers in Ak Bars territory and creating shooting opportunities, but goaltender Maxim Arefyev had an answer every time.
Then a fortunate bounce helped Ak Bars double its lead.
At 36:35, the puck took an awkward carom off the boards and found Grigori Denisenko, who capitalized to make it 2–0.
Only 40 seconds later, Denisenko struck again — this time shorthanded.
The Ak Bars forward finished a setup from Alexei Byvaltsev at 37:15 to complete a rapid-fire double and suddenly leave Shanghai facing a three-goal deficit after 40 minutes.
Arefyev Shuts the Door
The Dragons continued to generate opportunities in the third period, helped by a string of Ak Bars penalties, but couldn’t find the finish they needed.
Arefyev produced the save of the game on one of Shanghai’s best chances, moving across his crease to somehow keep out a shot headed underneath the crossbar.
The Ak Bars goaltender continued to frustrate the Dragons as the period went on.
Even while shorthanded, Shanghai nearly found a way through when Mikhail Kotlyarevsky broke in alone, but once again Arefyev kept the puck out.
With the Dragons pushing for a breakthrough late and Miftakhov pulled for an extra attacker, Byvaltsev found the empty net at 53:21 to close out the scoring.
4–0 Ak Bars.
The result brings Shanghai’s preseason schedule to a close.
The Dragons now return to St. Petersburg, where the team will continue preparations for the start of the 2026–27 KHL regular season.
The preseason is over. The next one counts.
Shanghai opens its regular-season schedule on the road against Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk on September 6.
Moscow Mayor’s Cup — Day 4 | Fifth-Place Game
Ak Bars Kazan – Shanghai Dragons 4–0 (1–0, 2–0, 1–0)
August 30 | Moscow, Megasport Arena | Attendance: 689
Goaltenders: Arefyev – Miftakhov
Scoring Summary
1–0 — Katelevsky (Yevseyev, Denisenko) — 18:17 PP
2–0 — Denisenko (Yarullin, Terekhov) — 36:35
3–0 — Denisenko (Byvaltsev) — 37:15 SH
4–0 — Byvaltsev — 53:21 EN
Shanghai Dragons Media Relations, Moscow
