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SKA trying to return to victory facing Vityaz!
This Saturday promises to be a hot one, with seven games on tap spanning from West to East. The matchday starts in Moscow with an early match between Dynamo and Sibir. The Blue-and-Whites are having a strong season and will want to exploit SKA’s loss to Lokomotiv of Thursday.
The action then moves to Omsk – Avangard faces Admiral in Mikhail Kravets’ second match behind the Hawks’ bench. Another two exciting Eastern games see Salavat Yulaev facing Neftekhimik and Metallurg hosting Torpedo. The Wolves will move to Ufa after an OT win in Sochi, while both Magnitka and Torpedo won their most recent game. In the meantime, Barys hosts Amur.
In the West, Lokomotiv will try to stretch its winning streak after a nice win over SKA – tonight the opponent will be Dinamo Minsk. In the closing game, SKA tries to avoid a second straight loss when they travel to Balashikha to face Vityaz.
13:00: Dynamo Moscow (13-3-2, 2nd W) vs Sibir (9-8-2, 4th E)
About the game
Dynamo Moscow enters the second of a four-game scoring streak on a two-match winning streak.
Sibir is in the middle of a three-game road trip and defeated Traktor on Thursday (2:1 OT).
Dynamo Moscow’s Dmitry Rashevsky is on a seven-game scoring streak, with 9 (3+6) points over that span.
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Maxim Dzhioshvili is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points.
Sibir’s forward Taylor Beck is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points.
Injury list
Dynamo Moscow: Ivan Igumnov, Bogdan Yakimov.
14:00: Avangard (7-9-1, 8th E) vs Admiral (7-9-2, 7th E)
About the game
Avangard ends a four-game home series and defeated Amur on Thursday (4:1)
Admiral ends a three-game road trip and lost to Barys also on Thursday (1:3).
The Hawks won their latest nine home games against Admiral, with the most recent defeat dated Feb 04, 2017 (1:3).
Admiral’s forward Michal Kristof is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that span.
Injury list
Avangard: Corban Knight, Nail Yakupov.
Admiral: Mikhail Belyayev, Anton Berlyov, Yegor Rykov, Alexander Shevchenko.
14:00: Barys (9-8-1, 5th E) vs Amur (5-9-3, 11th E)
About the game
Barys is in the middle of a five-game home series and defeated Admiral on Thursday.
Amur is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost its previous three matches.
Injury list
Barys: Dmitry Gurkov.
Amur: Andrei Alexeyev, Vladislav Barulin, Kirill Slepets.
14:30: Salavat Yulaev (9-5-3, 3rd E) vs Neftekhimik (7-10-1, 9th E)
About the game
Salavat Yulaev ends a five-game home series and lost to Torpedo on Thursday (1:2 SO).
Neftekhimik ends a two-match road trip and defeated HC Sochi also on Thursday (5:4 OT).
Salavat Yulaev’s defenseman Ryan Murphy is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points over that span.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Vadim Antipin, Josh Ho-Sang, Evgeny Timkin.
15:30: Metallurg (11-4-2, 2nd E) vs Torpedo (11-5-1, 4th W)
About the game
Metallurg is at its third of a four-game home series and defeated Ak Bars on Wednesday (4:1).
Torpedo enters the third of a four-game road trip fresh off a win over Salavat Yulaev on Thursday.
Magnitka has already defeated Torpedo this season (5:4), and its forward Andrei Chibisov had an assist in each of his previous three games.
Injury list
Torpedo: Vasily Atanasov.
Milestone alert
Metallurg’s forward Brendon Leipsic may reach 100 KHL points (currently at 99).
Metallurg’s goalie Vasily Koshechkin can record his 90th shutout in the KHL.
17:00: Lokomotiv (10-4-3, 3rd W) vs Dinamo Minsk (7-7-4, 8th W)
About the game
Lokomotiv ends a two-game home series and won its previous couple of matches.
Dinamo Minsk ends a four-game road trip and is on a four-match losing streak.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Pavel Varfolomeyev is on a six-game scoring streak, with 9 (5+4) points over that span.
Injury list
Lokomotiv: Roman Bychkov, Alexei Marchenko, Daniil Tesanov.
Dinamo Minsk: Shawn Lalonde.
Milestone alert
Dinamo Minsk’s defenseman Dmitry Deryabin may line up for his 100th KHL game.
18:00: Vityaz (10-5-3, 7th W) vs SKA (16-1-1, 1st W)
About the game
Vityaz ends a two-game home series and lost to CSKA on Thursday (1:2).
SKA ends a two-match road trip and lost to Lokomotiv also on Thursday (1:3).
SKA has already defeated Vityaz this season (4:3), and its forwards Damir Zhafyarov and Valentin Zykov posted an assist in each of their three latest games.
Injury list
Vityaz: Alexander Avtsin, Tyler Graovac.
SKA: Nikita Komarov, Mikhail Pashnin, Artyom Shvets-Rogovoy.
