Dinamo Minsk looking to revert trend against Sochi!
The KHL matchday starts in Vladivostok, with Admiral hosting Vityaz. The Sailors are having a good season and are sitting on a respectable seventh place in the Eastern Conference – and have just defeated Avangard in Omsk (4:3 OT). Vityaz is also doing well, even if they look not in their best shape of late. In particular, Vityaz only netted two goals in the previous three games and its imports need to find their scoring touch back.
The action then moves to the Western Conference. Severstal hosts Lokomotiv with both sides having winning streaks alive. Fireworks are to be expected, and the Railwaymen have already defeated the Steelers earlier this season.
Quite at the opposite of the spectrum are Dinamo Minsk and HC Sochi. The two Western teams are failing to win games, especially the Black Sea franchise, and tonight’s showdown will finally see a team gathering two points in the standings. Will this victory be the start for a more positive series?
In the latest game of the night Spartak welcomes Salavat Yulaev. Entertaining hockey is to be expected, considering that both sides are quite high in the standings – especially Ufa. Moreover, both teams sport goalies with active shutout streaks, but Spartak’s forwards need to improve their finishing after failing to score on Kunlun Red Star’s Matt Jurusik on Sunday.
12:30: Admiral (8-9-2, 7th E) vs Vityaz (10-6-3, 7th W)
About the game
Admiral starts a three-game home series and defeated Avangard on Saturday (4:3 SO).
Vityaz, who has already defeated Admiral this year (3:2 SO), starts a three-game road trip and lost its previous couple of matches.
Admiral’s forward Michal Kristof is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points over that span.
Vityaz’s most recent win in Vladivostok is dated Sep 17, 2017 (4:3 OT).
Injury list
Admiral: Mikhail Belyayev, Anton Berlyov, Stanislav Gareyev, Svyatoslav Grebenshchikov, Leonid Metalnikov, Yegor Rykov.
Vityaz: Alexander Avtsin, Tyler Graovac.
19:00: Severstal (9-7-3, 8th W) vs Lokomotiv (11-4-3, 3rd W)
About the game
Severstal starts a two-match home series and is on a two-match winning streak.
Lokomotiv, who has already defeated Severstal this season (5:3), starts a four-match road trip and won its previous three games.
Injury list
Severstal: Alexander Suvorov.
Lokomotiv: Roman Bychkov, Ivan Chekhovich, Alexei Marchenko, Daniil Tesanov.
Milestone alert
Lokomotiv’s forward Yegor Averin may reach 300 KHL points (currently at 299).
Lokomotiv’s goalie Ivan Bocharov may celebrate his 100th KHL win.
19:10: Dinamo Minsk (7-8-4, 10th W) vs HC Sochi (3-11-3, 11th W)
About the game
Dinamo Minsk starts a three-game home series and lost its previous five matches.
HC Sochi, who has already defeated Dinamo Minsk this year (3:1), starts a two-match road trip and lost its previous four games.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Pavel Varfolomeyev is on a seven-game scoring streak, with 10 (6+4) points over that span.
Injury list
Dinamo Minsk: Shawn Lalonde.
HC Sochi: Brandon Gormley, Joe Morrow, Sergei Popov.
Milestone alert
Dinamo Minsk’s defenseman Dmitry Deryabin may line up for his 100th KHL match.
19:30: Spartak (9-6-5, 5th W) vs Salavat Yulaev (10-5-3, 3rd E)
About the game
Spartak, who has already defeated Salavat Yulaev this season (3:1), plays the lone home game of the series and lost to Kunlun Red Star on Sunday (0:3).
Salavat Yulaev starts a three-game road trip and defeated Neftekhimik on Saturday (4:0).
Salavat Yulaev’s defenseman Ryan Murphy is on a five-game scoring streak, with 5 (1+4) points over that span.
Spartak’s goalie Patrik Rybar is on an 81:42 shutout streak.
Salavat Yulaev’s goalie Ilya Ezhov is on a 64:42 shutout streak.
Injury list
Spartak: Shane Prince, Semyon Ruchkin.
Salavat Yulaev: Viktor Antipin, Josh Ho-Sang, Evgeny Timkin.
