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Amur, Dinamo Minsk hit the ice hunting the playoffs
Playoff scenarios come into focus again tonight with high-stakes matchups, starting with Sibir, topping the tables in the East, faces off against the tenth-ranked Amur in Khabarovsk. Despite Amur’s eighth-place standing not long ago, they recently suffered a loss against CSKA and have since dropped to tenth in the standings. Sibir also experienced a loss, falling to Admiral Vladivostok. This game promises to be a hard-fought battle, as the teams have traded wins earlier in the season. Sibir’s Trevor Murphy and Valentin Pyanov have been on scoring streaks and will be ones to watch in tonight’s matchup. With both teams looking to bounce back from their recent losses, this game is sure to be one to watch for fans of intense, competitive hockey and that will have profound impact on the standings.
Then, still in the Russian Far East, Admiral hosts Avangard. The Sailors have already downed the Hawks twice, and they aim to confirm that the third time is the lucky charm.
Another two games are scheduled in the West, with Dinamo Minsk keeping on their playoffs qualification quest facing Kunlun Red Star at home. Then, Torpedo travels to St. Petersburg. The Nizhny Novgorod side doesn’t record a win on the Neva’s shores for eight years, and SKA has defeated them thrice this season.
12:00: Amur (25-24-6, 10th E) vs Sibir (34-18-5, 1st E)
About the game
Amur starts a four-game home series after a defeat to CSKA on Friday (1:3).
Sibir enters the third game of a four-match road trip after a loss to Admiral on Saturday (4:5 OT).
The teams have equally traded wins so far this season (6:4, 1:4).
Sibir’s defenseman Trevor Murphy had at least an assist in each of his previous four games, totaling five helpers.
Sibir’s forward Valentin Pyanov is also on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points over that span.
Injury list
Sibir: Vladislav Litovchenko, Andrei Nazarevich, Nikita Setdikov.
12:30: Admiral (28-21-7, 7th E) vs Avangard (32-19-4, 5th E)
About the game
Admiral, who has defeated Avangard twice this season (4:3 SO, 1:0 OT), enters the fourth game of a five-match home series coming off a win over Sibir on Saturday (5:4 OT).
Avangard starts a four-game road trip fresh off a win over Dynamo Moscow on Friday (3:2 OT).
Injury list
Admiral: Michal Kristof, Evgeny Lisovets.
Avangard: Stanislav Galimov, Nail Yakupov.
19:10: Dinamo Minsk (22-22-13, 8th W) vs Kunlun Red Star (20-32-5, 10th W)
About the game
Dinamo Minsk is in the middle of a three-game home series and lost to Torpedo on Saturday (2:3 SO).
Kunlun Red Star starts a two-game road trip fresh off a win over Spartak also on Saturday (3:2 OT).
Dinamo Minsk has defeated the Dragons twice this season (3:2, 5:1), and lost once 2:6.
Injury list
Kunlun Red Star: Paris O’Brien, Jack Rodewald.
19:30: SKA (43-10-4, 1st W) vs Torpedo (36-16-4, 4th W)
About the game
SKA starts a three-game home series after losing to Lokomotiv on Saturday (0:1).
Torpedo ends a three-game road trip coming off a three-match winning streak.
SKA has already defeated Torpedo three times this season (3:0, 6:2, 6:2), while the Nizhny Novgorod side hasn’t had a win in St. Petersburg since 3:1 victory on Aug 29, 2015.
Torpedo’s forward Nikolai Kovalenko is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that span.
Injury list
SKA: Evgeny Ketov, Danila Moiseyev, Nikolai Prokhorkin, Roman Rukavishnikov, Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi, Vladislav Tsitsyura.
Torpedo: Kenny Agostino, Alexander Daryin, Igor Larionov, Dennis Yan.
