KHL press office
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The KHL is back with 10 games on tap!
Plenty of emotions are to be expected tonight as the KHL is back after a 10-day pause for the KHL All-Star Game and the Channel One Cup in Moscow.
The KHL matchday starts in the Eastern Conference, with the two leaders – Avtomobilist and Magnitka – hosting Far East teams, Admiral and Amur, respectively. Emotions are guaranteed in Ufa as well, with Salavat Yulaev hosting Avangard with both teams eager to gain more points in the standings.
The battle to reach a top-eight spot is going to intensify in the East, with Neftekhimik hosting Barys, and Traktor welcoming Sibir.
However, the temperature will be high on the West as well. Lokomotiv has recently surpassed CSKA on the second place in the standings, and hosts HC Sochi tonight, while CSKA pay a visit to Minsk who is currently the eighth seed in the West. Not less interesting seems to be the showdown between Torpedo and Severstal, while SKA welcomes Vityaz as the St. Petersburg side enjoys a 15-point gap on the top of the Western Conference.
17:00: Avtomobilist (28-8-3, 1stE) vs Admiral (22-13-5, 5thE)
About the game
Avtomobilist enters the third of a four-game home series on a five-match winning streak.
Admiral, who has already defeated the Motormen this season (2:1), is at its third of a six-game road trip and defeated Amur on Dec 8 (3:1).
Avtomobilist’s forward Stephane Da Costa is on a three-game home series, with 3 (1+2) points over that span.
Admiral’s goalie Alexander Lazushin is on a 60:00 shutout streak.
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Alexei Makeyev.
Admiral: Stanislav Gareyev, Alexander Lazushin, Leonid Metalnikov, Rinat Valiyev.
Milestone alert
Avtomobilist’s forward Stephane Da Costa may reach 350 KHL points (currently at 348).
Avtomobilist’s goalie Igor Bobkov may record his 30thcareer shutout.
17:00: Metallurg (24-11-4, 2ndE) vs Amur (16-16-6, 8thE)
About the game
Metallurg starts a four-game home series and lost its previous three matches.
Amur starts a three-game road trip after a loss to Admiral on Dec 8 (1:3).
Magnitka defeated the Tigers twice this season (3:0, 3:2), but lost once (4:5 OT).
Amur’s forward Alexei Nikolishin is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points over that span.
Injury list
Metallurg: Artyom Minulin.
Amur: Andrei Alexeyev, Kirill Slepets, Pavel Turbin.
Milestone alert
Metallurg’s forward Josh Curry lines up for his 100thKHL game.
Metallurg’s forward Nikolai Goldobin may reach 100 points in the KHL (currently at 99).
Amur’s goalie Janis Kalnins may record his 100thKHL win.
17:00: Salavat Yulaev (21-11-7, 4thE) vs Avangard (21-14-4, 6thE)
About the game
Salavat Yulaev starts a four-game home series on a two-match winning streak.
Avangard starts a two-game road trip and lost its previous couple of matches.
Salavat Yulaev defeated the Hawks twice this season (5:0, 3:1), but lost once (3:4 SO).
Avangard’s forward Sergei Tolchinsky is on a four-game scoring streak, with 7 (2+5) points over that span.
Avangard’s forward Arseny Gritsyuk is on a six-game scoring streak, with 9 (4+5) points.
Avangard’s defenseman Semyon Chistyakov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Josh Ho-Sang.
Avangard: Stanislav Galimov, Viktor Svedberg, Vladimir Tkachyov, Nail Yakupov, Vladimir Zharkov.
Milestone alert
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Danil Alalykin lines up for his 100thKHL game tonight.
Avangard’s forward Pavel Dedunov celebrates 500 appearances in the KHL.
Avangard’s forward Corban Knight may record his 100thKHL assist.
17:00: Traktor (15-21-5, 11thE) vs Sibir (24-15-3, 3rdE)
About the game
Traktor plays its lone home game of the series and lost to Avtomobilist on Dec8 (1:2).
Sibir starts a three-game road trip after two straight losses.
Traktor had defeated Sibir three times this season (3:2 SO, 3:2, 4:2), and lost once (1:2 OT). Its forward Alexei Byvaltsev is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points.
Injury list
Traktor: Kirill Kapustin, Teemu Pulkkinen.
Sibir: Vyacheslav Litovchenko.
Milestone alert
Traktor’s goalie Ilya Proskuryakov may reach 400 KHL games.
19:00: Ak Bars (18-14-7, 7thE) vs Kunlun Red Star (14-23-4, 10thW)
About the game
Ak Bars plays its lone home game of the series fresh off a win over Avangard on Dec 8 (3:2 OT).
Kunlun Red Star enters the second road game of the series after a win over Lokomotiv, also on Dec 8 (1:0).
Ak Bars’ forward Vadim Shipachyov is on a seven-game scoring streak, with 12 (2+10) points over that span.
Kunlun Red Star’s goalie Matt Jurusik is on a 60:10 shutout streak.
Injury list
Ak Bars: Mikhail Glukhov, Dinar Khafizullin, Alexander Radulov.
Kunlun Red Star: Jeremy Smith.
19:00: Lokomotiv (24-10-6, 2ndW) vs HC Sochi (5-27-6, 11thW)
About the game
Lokomotiv enters the second of a five-game home series after a loss to Kunlun Red Star on Dec 8 (0:1).
HC Sochi is at its third of a four-game road trip and lost its previous ten matches.
The teams traded wins this season so far (4:1, 3:4 OT).
HC Sochi’s forward Dmitry Zavgorodny is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points over that span.
Injury list
Lokomotiv: Yegor Averin, Artur Kayumov.
HC Sochi: Mikhail Abramov, Mikhail Berdin, Artyom Fyodorov, Fyodor Kroshchinsky, Joe Morrow, Nikita Pivtsakin.
19:10: Dinamo Minsk (17-5-8, 8thW) vs CSKA Moscow (24-9-5, 3rdW)
About the game
Dinamo Minsk ends a three-game home series after losing two straight matches.
CSKA starts a three-game road trip and lost to Torpedo on Dec 7 (2:4).
CSKA achieved two wins over the Belarusian franchise this season (2:1, 8:5), but lost once (1:3).
CSKA’s forward Konstantin Okulov is on a six-game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points.
Injury list
Dinamo Minsk: Brandon Kozun, Cedrid Paquette.
CSKA: Vitaly Abramov, Darren Dietz, Vsevolod Skotnikov, Anton Slepyshev, Danil Yurtaikin.
Milestone alert
CSKA’s forward Anton Svetlakov lines up for his 400thKHL game.
19:30: Neftekhimik (17-21-1, 10thE) vs Barys (17-20-3, 9thE)
About the game
Neftekhimik enters the fourth of a five-game home series on a two-match winning streak.
Barys plays its lone road game of the series and also won its previous couple of matches.
Neftekhimik defeated Barys twice this season (2:1, 4:2).
Injury list
Neftekhimik: Anthony Camara, Emil Garipov, Hunter Shinkaruk.
Milestone alert
Neftekhimik’s forward Rafael Bikmullin may reach 200 KHL games.
19:30: Torpedo (23-13-3, 4thW) vs Severstal (14-16-9, 9thW)
About the game
Torpedo, who has already defeated Severstal this season (2:1 OT), starts a three-game home series and defeated CSKA on Dec 7 (4:2).
Severstal ends a four-game road trip and defeated Dinamo Minsk on Dec 5 (4:3).
Severstal’s forward Kirill Pilipenko is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
Injury list
Torpedo: Kenny Agostino, Vasily Atanasov, Kirill Urakov.
Milestone alert
Severstal’s forward Daniil Vovchenko may reach 200 KHL points (currently at 199).
19:30: SKA (33-5-3, 1stW) vs Vityaz (18-14-8, 7thW)
About the game
SKA starts a three-game home series on a six-match winning streak.
Vityaz starts a two-game road trip and won its previous couple of matches.
The St. Petersburg’s franchise has defeated Vityaz twice this season so far (5:0, 4:3).
SKA’s forward Nikita Gusev is on a six-game scoring streak, with 13 (7+6) points over that span.
Injury list
SKA: Stepan Falkovsky, Emil Galimov, Evgeny Ketov, Danila Moiseyev, Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi.
Milestone alert
SKA’s forward Nikita Gusev may reach 300 KHL assists (currently at 299).
SKA’s forward Vladislav Tsitsyura lines up for his 100thKHL game.
SKA’s forward Dmitrij Jaskin may tally his 100thKHL goal (currently at 99).
