Metallurg looks to extend West lead against Vityaz!

Eighteen teams will hit the ice on Christmas, with plenty of excitation and meaningful games on both conferences.

The KHL Christmas matchday starts off with two games on the Russian Far East, with Admiral and Amur taking on Neftekhimik and Lokomotiv, respectively. In the East, things will get hotter with Traktor and Metallurg again battling remotely, with Magnitka facing Vityaz in the Moscow Region, and Traktor hosting Barys, always eager for points to secure the East’s eighth seed.

Sibir has now a nine-point gap over the ninth seed, but it’s certainly not going to relax when SKA gets to Novosibirsk as the Western Conference’s leader. In the meantime, Salavat Yulaev will try to overcome Ak Bars in the standings – both Green sides face slumping teams, Avtomobilist and Severstal, respectively.

In the West, other than Vityaz, also Dynamo Moscow and HC Sochi have home games. The Blue-and-Whites face Torpedo, with the David Nemirovsky’s men being in fine shape of late – most of the offensive leaders are in scoring streaks alive. Fireworks are to be expected on the Black Sea shores – Sochi hosts Spartak with both sides needing points to get, or to stay, on the right side of the playoff line.

10:00: Admiral (10-26-5, 11^th E) vs Neftekhimik (18-18-5, 7^th E)

About the game
Admiral plays the second of a nine-game home series and lost to Lokomotiv on Thursday.

Neftekhimik is at its fifth game of a seven-match road trip and won three times in a row.

Neftekhimik has already defeated the Sailors twice this season (4:0, 5:2).

Neftekhimik’s forward Marat Khairullin is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that span.

Neftekhimik’s defenseman Mikhail Sidorov is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points.

Injury list

Admiral: Rihards Bukarts, Evgeny Grachyov.

Neftekhimik: Alexei Puzanov.

10:00: Amur (16-21-6, 10^th E) vs Lokomotiv (22-12-8, 5^th W)

About the game

Amur enters the fourth of a five-match home series on a four-game losing streak.

Lokomotiv ends a three-game road trip and defeated Admiral on Thursday.

Amur has already defeated Lokomotiv this season (4:3 SO).

Injury list

Amur: Michal Jordan, Gleb Koryagin, Alexander Kuznetsov.

Lokomotiv: Maxim Shalunov.

Milestone alert

Amur’s defenseman Alexei Tereshchenko and Lokomotiv’s forward Artur Kayumov may reach 100 KHL points (both are currently at 99).

13:30: Sibir (22-15-4, 6^th E) vs SKA (26-9-6, 1^st W)

About the game

Sibir is at its fourth of an eight-game home series and won its previous couple of matches.

SKA starts a four-game road trip and is on a two-match winning streak.

Sibir has already defeated SKA this season (2:1).

Injury list

Sibir: Trevor Murphy.

SKA: Stepan Falkovsky, Vasily Tokranov.

14:30: Salavat Yulaev (25-12-4, 4^th E) vs Avtomobilist (17-19-5, 9^th E)

About the game

Salavat Yulaev plays its lone home game of the series and lost to Spartak on Wednesday.

Avtomobilist is in the middle of a three-match road trip and lost its previous three games.

Ufa has already defeated the Motormen twice this season (4:2, 3:2) and lost once (3:4 OT).

Salavat Yulaev’s forward Sakari Manninen is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (4+2) points over that span.

His teammate, forward Viktor Tikhonov, is on a five-game scoring streak, with 7 (1+6) points.

Injury list

Avtomobilist: Alexei Makeyev.

Milestone alert

Salavat Yulaev’s Manninen may reach 100 KHL assists tonight.

Suspensions

Salavat Yulaev’s forward Pyotr Khokhryakov serves its third game of a five-match ban.

15:00: Traktor (29-11-3, 2^nd E) vs Barys (18-19-4, 8^th E)

About the game

Traktor ends a two-game home series and defeated Severstal on Thursday.

Barys ends a three-game road trip and lost to Ak Bars also on Thursday.

Traktor has already defeated Barys this season (5:4 OT) but lost its previous four home games against the Kazakh side, with the latest win dated Dec 9, 2017.

Traktor’s forward Vitaly Abramov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points over that span.

Injury list

Traktor: Alexei Byvaltsev.

Barys: Arkady Shestakov.

Milestone alert

Traktor’s forward Vladimir Tkachyov may score his 250^th KHL point (currently at 249).

17:00: Ak Bars (25-11-5, 3^rd E) vs Severstal (23-12-6, 6^th W)

About the game

Ak Bars is at its sixth of a seven-game home series and won its previous couple of matches.

Severstal ends a four-match road trip and lost its previous five games.

Kazan won its previous eight home game against the Steelers, with the most recent defeat dated Jan 28, 2012 (0:1).

Ak Bars’ forward Dmitry Kagarlitsky had seven assists in his previous five games, while defenseman Steven Kampfer is on a four-match scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points over that span.

Severstal’s forward Kirill Pilipenko is on a six-game scoring streak, with 9 (6+3) points.

Injury list

Ak Bars: Alexander Burmistrov, Mikhail Glukhov, Dmitry Voronkov.

Milestone alert

Ak Bars’ forward Dmitry Kagarlitsky may net his 150th KHL goal (currently at 149).

Ak Bars’ goalie Igor Bobkov may record his 30th career shutout.

Ak Bars’ forward Artyom Lukoyanov may reach 100 career assists (currently at 99).

17:00: Vityaz (12-18-11, 11^th E) vs Metallurg (31-9-0, 1^st E)

About the game

Vityaz ends a three-game home series and defeated HC Sochi on Thursday.

Metallurg, who has already defeated Vityaz this season (2:1), is at its second of a six-match road trip and lost to Avangard also on Thursday.

Injury list

Vityaz: Alexander Yaremchuk.

Metallurg: Grigory Dronov, Mikhail Pashnin.

Milestone alert

Metallurg’s forward Anatoly Nikontsev may reach his 100^th KHL assist (currently at 99).

17:00: Dynamo Moscow (27-11-3, 3^rd W) vs Torpedo (20-15-6, 8^th W)

About the game

Dynamo Moscow ends a three-game home series and defeated Avtomobilist on Thursday.

Torpedo ends a six-game road trip and won against Kunlun Red Star also on Thursday.

The Blue-and-Whites won their previous five home games against Torpedo, with the latest loss dated Oct 31, 2017 (0:1 SO). However, Torpedo has already defeated Dynamo Moscow this season (4:2).

Dynamo Moscow’s forward Dmitry Rashevsky is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
Torpedo’s goalie Alexei Murygin is on a 95:02 shutout streak.

Torpedo’s forward Damir Zhafyarov is on an eight-game scoring streak, with 12 (4+8) points over that span.

Torpedo’s forward Kenny Agostino is on a five-game scoring streak, with 8 (2+6) points.

Torpedo’s forward Andy Miele is on a six-game scoring streak, with 9 (5+4) points.

Torpedo’s forward Ivan Chekhovich is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.

Injury list

Dynamo Moscow: Mikhail Fisenko, Vladislav Yefremov.

Torpedo: Daniel Zaar.

Milestone alert

Dynamo Moscow’s forward Vadim Shipachyov may score his 800^th KHL point tonight (currently at 799).

17:00: HC Sochi (17-19-5, 10^th W) vs Spartak (22-17-3, 8^th W)

About the game

HC Sochi starts a five-game home series after losing to Vityaz on Thursday.

Spartak starts a seven-game road trip fresh off a win over Salavat Yulaev on Wednesday.

HC Sochi has already defeated Spartak this season (3:1).

Spartak’s forward Jori Lehtera is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points over that span.

Spartak’s forward Alexander Khokhlachyov is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points.

Injury list

HC Sochi: Yegor Babenko.

Spartak: Dmitry Kugryshev, Andrei Loktionov.