KHL shifts games from Brooklyn to Russia

10/26/2012 7:03 PM ET

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- The KHL says two games between Dynamo Moscow and SKA St. Petersburg that had been set for Brooklyn's new Barclays Center have been moved back to Russia.

Dynamo Moscow, the Gagarin Cup champion, and SKA St. Petersburg were supposed to meet in Brooklyn on Jan. 19 and 20. But the league announced Friday they instead will play in St. Petersburg on Jan. 20 and in Moscow two days later.

The KHL said it made the switch because of the NHL lockout and ''impassioned pleas by the fan bases of each club to keep these premier, late-season games in Russia.''

The shift was made two days after the NHL's New York Islanders announced they will move from Long Island to the Barclays Center for the 2015-16 season after their Nassau Coliseum lease expires.