Dinamo Riga missed a huge chance on Friday to climb up in the standings and take a rival at a bay, but HC Sochi surprised the Latvian franchise and shut them out, moving out of the last place. The Latvians need points and also to forget the latest time they faced Jokerit - the Finn side celebrated a sensational 8:0 win.
After defeating Salavat Yulaev on Friday, Avangard is trying to build momentum and is facing a struggling Dynamo Moscow side at home. Another team in good shape is Lokomotiv - Igor Nikitin’s men stopped Magnitka, and they will try to get the ball rolling in a home game against Amur.
However, the other big game of this KHL Saturday will be the first Army Derby of the season, with SKA traveling to Moscow to face CSKA. SKA is perhaps in better shape, but is currently on a losing streak, while the Red Army staged a barn-burner of a game against Vityaz, getting the last laugh after SO (6:5) and Mikhail Grigorenko hitting a hat-trick.
Torpedo welcomes HC Sochi and Vityaz hosts Admiral in the remaining two games of Saturday.
Postponed.
About the game
Avangard starts a three-game home series fresh off a win over Salavat Yulaev on Friday.
Dynamo Moscow plays its lone road game of the series and lost to Amur on Friday.
Dynamo Moscow already defeated Avangard this season (5:2)
Injury list
Avangard: Ivan Telegin, Sergei Tolchinsky
Dynamo Moscow: Artyom Fyodorov, Rob Klinkhammer, Oscar Lindberg, Andrei Pedan, Bogdan Yakimov.
Milestone alert
Dynamo Moscow’s goalie Ivan Bocharov may reach 20 KHL shutouts.
About the game
Lokomotiv ends a two-game road trip and defeated Metallurg on Friday.
Amur enters tonight’s game, the third of a six-match road trip, fresh off a win over Dynamo Moscow on Friday.
Lokomotiv’s defenseman Alexei Marchenko had an assist in each of his previous three games.
Amur’s goalie Evgeny Alikin is on an 82:49 shutout series.
Injury list
Lokomotiv: Andre Petersson.
Amur: Gleb Koryagin, Gleb Zyryanov.
About the game
Torpedo plays its third of a six-game home series and is on a two-win streak.
HC Sochi ends a two-game road trip and defeated Dinamo Riga on Friday.
Both teams defeated each other this season, with Torpedo winning 2:1 and HC Sochi 2:0, respectively.
Torpedo’s goalie Andrei Tikhomirov is on an 86:29 shutout series.
HC Sochi’s goalie Maxim Tretyak is on a 60:00 shutout series.
HC Sochi’s forward Artyom Nikolayev is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points over that span.
His teammate, forward Amir Garayev is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.
Injury list
Torpedo: Marek Hrivik.
HC Sochi: Nikita Tochitsky, Denis Vikharev.
About the game
Vityaz ends a two-game home series and lost its previous couple of matches.
Admiral plays its third of a seven-game road trip and lost its previous six matches.
Admiral already defeated Vityaz this season (3:2).
Vityaz’s forward Nico Ojamaki is on a four-game scoring streak, with 7 (4+3) points over that span.
Vityaz’s forward Miro Aaltonen is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (1+4) points.
Injury list
Vityaz: Igor Golovkov, Alexander Yaremchuk.
Admiral: Artyom Manukyan, Ivan Nalimov, Mikhail Patrikeyev.
Milestone alert
Vityaz’s defenseman Viktor Antipin may reach the 200-point mark tonight, as he’s currently at 199.
Vityaz’s forward Fyodor Malykhin may score his 100th KHL goal tonight, currently sitting at 99.
Admiral’s forward Evgeny Grachyov may score his 100th KHL point, as he’s currently at 99.
About the game
CSKA starts a three-game home series and won its previous couple of matches.
SKA plays its lone road game of the series and is on a two-match losing streak.
SKA’s forward Andrei Kuzmenko is on a five-game scoring streak, with 9 (6+3) points over that span.
Milestone alert
SKA’s forward Emil Galimov plays his 500th KHL game tonight.
SKA’s defenseman Vasily Tokranov may reach 100 KHL assists (currently at 99).
About the game
Dinamo Riga is at its fourth of a six-game home series and lost to HC Sochi on Friday.
Jokerit is at its fifth of a six-game road trip and is on a three-win streak.
Jokerit already defeated Dinamo Riga this season (8:0).
Jokerit’s goalie Juuso Juvonen is on a 115:11 shutout streak.
Injury list
Dinamo Riga: Nikolajs Jelisejevs, Alexander Protapovich, Kristaps Sotnieks.
Jokerit: Henrik Haapala.
Milestone alert
Jokerit’s forward Jordan Schroeder may reach 100 KHL points tonight (currently at 98).
Suspensions
Dinamo Riga’s defenseman serves the first match of a three-game suspension. His teammate Karlis Cukste is also banned from Saturday’s game.