KHL press office
exclusive for khl.ru
Avangard hosting Ak Bars eyeing ninth win!
Avangard won eight straight games and is trying to make it nine in a row with a home game against Kazan for another classic of Russian hockey. The Hawks are on an incredible streak that comes close to an abrupt ending when Avangard needed an OT to defeat HC Sochi on Thursday. On their hand, Ak Bars are just the seventh seed in the East, but just defeated SKA with a hat-trick by Alexander Radulov. Are they back on track or was it just a flash in the pan?
Plenty of excitement is to be expected also in Chelyabinsk for yet another edition of the Southern Urals derby between Traktor and Metallurg. Magnitka has already defeated Traktor twice this season, but the Chelyabinsk side will be eager for points to protect its placement in the top-eight. Another two teams who will be both eyeing a win will face in Kazakhstan, where Barys hosts Amur. The Astana franchise just recovered one of their top players in Nikita Mikhailis, who was finally removed from the injury list, after missing almost one month.
Another two leaders, Avtomobilist and SKA, will both play games in the East – the Motormen host HC Sochi, while SKA travels to Tatarstan for a road game against Neftekhimik. A showdown between Salavat Yulaev and Sibir closes the matchday in the East.
In the Western Conference, Dynamo Moscow will look to revert the trend with a home game against Kunlun Red Star. After a nice start, the Blue-and-Whites lost terrain and are now on a five-loss unpleasant streak. The Dragons, however, are still dreaming a playoffs spot and won’t certainly take it easy tonight. Dinamo Minsk welcomes Admiral in the night’s last game for an eventful KHL Saturday.
13:00: Avangard (17-11-3, 6th E) vs Ak Bars (12-12-5, 7th E)
About the game
Avangard, who has already defeated Ak Bars this season (4:3), is in the middle of a three-game home series and won its previous eight games.
Ak Bars starts a three-match road trip and defeated SKA on Thursday (5:2).
Avangard’s forward Reid Boucher is on an eight-game scoring streak, with 11 (8+3) points over that span.
Injury list
Avangard: Stanislav Galimov, Christian Jaros, Nail Yakupov, Vladimir Zharkov.
Ak Bars: Mikhail Glukhov, Dinar Khafizullin.
Milestone alert
Ak Bars’ forward Stanislav Galiyev may reach his 200th KHL point (currently 199).
Ak Bars’ forward Alexander Radulov may record his 400th assist in the KHL (currently 398).
14:00: Barys (13-16-2, 9th E) vs Amur (11-13-5, 10th E)
About the game
Barys, who has already defeated Amur this season (5:1), starts a four-game home series after a loss to Avtomobilist on Tuesday (0:2).
Amur starts a three-match road trip after losing to Traktor on Wednesday (2:3 OT).
Injury list
Amur: Andrei Alexeyev, Andrew Calof, Denis Vikharev.
14:30: Salavat Yulaev (17-6-7, 3rd E) vs Sibir (18-12-3, 5th E)
About the game
Salavat Yulaev ends a four-game home series and is on a three-match losing streak.
Sibir ends a three-game road trip and defeated Dinamo Minsk on Thursday (2:1 OT).
Sibir’s forward Taylor Beck is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points over that span.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Josh Ho-Sang.
Milestone alert
Sibir’s forward Anton Shenfeld may reach 200 KHL points (currently at 199).
14:30 Traktor (13-16-3, 8th E) vs Metallurg (19-8-4, 2nd E)
About the game
Traktor starts a five-game home series fresh off a win over Amur on Wednesday (3:2 OT).
Metallurg ends a two-game road trip after losing to Avtomobilist on Thursday (4:3 OT).
Magnitka has already defeated Traktor twice this season (5:2, 4:3).
Metallurg’s forward Philippe Maillet is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (3+3) points over that span.
In the latest three games, Metallurg’s forward Brendan Leipsic collected a helper in each of them, while Pavel Akolzin scored goals in each match.
Injury list
Traktor: Anton Burdasov, Ilya Karpukhin.
Metallurg: Artyom Minulin.
Milestone alert
Metallurg’s defenseman Yegor Yakovlev lines up for his 600th KHL game, while forward Philippe Maillet will have his 100th.
Metallurg’s forward Nikolai Goldobin may reach 100 KHL points (currently at 99).
15:00: Avtomobilist (21-8-2, 1st E) vs HC Sochi (5-18-6, 11th W)
About the game
Avtomobilist, who has already defeated HC Sochi this season (5:2), ends a three-game home series on a five-match winning streak.
HC Sochi ends a three-game road trip and lost to Avangard on Thursday (4:5 OT).
Avtomobilist’s forward Brooks Macek is on an eight-game scoring streak, with 12 (10+2) points over that span.
Avtomobilist’s defenseman Nick Ebert is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.
HC Sochi’s forward Sergei Popov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Denis Barantsev, Patrice Cormier, Alexei Makeyev, Sergei Shirokov.
HC Sochi: Mikhail Berdin, Artyom Fyodorov, Danila Galenyuk, Fyodor Kroshchinsky, Joe Morrow, Kirill Petkov.
17:00: Neftekhimik (12-17-1, 11th E) vs SKA (26-4-2, 1st W)
About the game
Neftekhimik starts a two-match home series fresh off a win over Vityaz on Monday (5:4).
SKA, who has already defeated Neftekhimik this season (3:1), ends a two-game road trip after losing to Ak Bars on Thursday (2:5).
SKA’s forward Mikhail Vorobyov had at least an assist in each of his previous four games, totaling five helpers.
SKA’s forward Nikita Gusev is on a three-game scoring streak, with 7 (3+4) points over that span.
Injury list
Neftekhimik: Emil Garipov, Bulat Shafigullin, Alexander Sudnitsin.
SKA: Emil Galimov, Evgeny Ketov, Mikhail Pashnin, Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi.
17:00: Dynamo Moscow (16-10-5, 5th W) vs Kunlun Red Star (12-18-3, 10th W)
About the game
Dynamo Moscow, who has already defeated the Dragons this season (3:2 OT), ends a three-game home series and lost its previous three matches.
Kunlun Red Star is in the middle of a three-game road trip and defeated Lokomotiv on Thursday (2:3 SO).
Kunlun Red Star is yet to record a win over Dynamo Moscow in the KHL.
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Dmitry Rashevsky is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points over that span.
Injury list
Dynamo Moscow: Brennan Manell, Bogdan Yakimov, Vladislav Yefremov.
Kunlun Red Star: Jack Chelios, Matt Jurusik, Paris O’Brien.
Milestone alert
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Vladislav Kodola may reach 100 KHL points (currently at 99).
17:10: Dinamo Minsk (14-13-5, 8th W) vs Admiral (18-10-4, 4th E)
About the game
Dinamo Minsk enters the second of a four-game home series after a loss to Sibir on Thursday (1:2 OT).
Admiral is at its third of a four-game road trip and defeated Dynamo Moscow also on Thursday (2:1).
Admiral’s goalie Alexander Lazushin is on a 60:00 shutout streak.
Injury list
Dinamo Minsk: Brandon Kozun.
Admiral: Anton Berlyov, Yury Pautov, Yegor Rykov.
