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Last regular-season week commences today!
Two games are key tonight to get the full picture of the future elimination-stage battles. First Neftekhimik hosts HC Sochi. Yesterday’s Amur defeat helped the Wolves, who are now in the eighth place in the East, but with two games still to go other than today’s showdown, anything can happen, with Traktor still having a chance and being in the mix.
With Severstal clinching a playoff spot on Saturday – and facing Vityaz today – Spartak is called to action again with a home game against Metallurg. The Muscovites have a three-point gap from Dinamo Minsk, but if they win tonight, it will be just one and they will only play in Moscow for the final two matches.
With that being said, the matchday starts with Avangard hosting Barys. The Kazakhs are now playing just for their pride, and thus the Hawks shouldn’t underrate their opposition. Reid Boucher is in top shape right now, reaching his peak when it will matter more, and he’s looking to stretch his scoring streak. But to add a layer to the intrigue, also Barys’ sharpshooting scorer Nikita Mikhailis is on fire, with nine points in his latest five games – who will prevail in the end?
The closing game tonight has CSKA welcoming Torpedo. The Igor Larionov’s young guns have already defeated the Moscow giants twice, and they may go for a third win, even if they also suffered a loss from the current Gagarin Cup reigning champion.
16:30: Avangard (36-21-7, 6th E) vs Barys (27-31-7, 11th E)
About the game
Avangard enters the sixth game of an eight-match home series and defeated Neftekhimik on Friday (2:1 OT).
Barys is in the middle of a three-game road trip and defeated Kunlun Red Star on Saturday (2:1 OT).
Avangard has defeated Barys four times this season (5:2, 6:0, 3:1, 5:2) and lost once (3:5).
Avangard’s forward Reid Boucher is on a seven-game scoring streak, with 8 (4+4) points over that span.
Barys’ forward Nikita Mikhailis is on a five-game scoring streak, with 9 (6+3) points.
Injury list
Avangard: Stanislav Galimov, Nail Yakupov.
Barys: Yury Sergiyenko, Yegor Shalapov.
19:00: Neftekhimik (31-28-6, 8th E) vs HC Sochi (8-47-9, 11th E)
About the game
Neftekhimik, who has defeated Sochi thrice this season (5:4 ОТ, 3:2, 4:0), starts a three-game home series following Friday’s defeat to Avangard.
HC Sochi ends a three-game road trip and lost its previous three matches. It’s the last road game for HC Sochi this season.
Neftekhimik’s forward Pavel Poryadin is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
Injury list
Neftekhimik: Emil Garipov, Gleb Semyonov.
19:00: Vityaz (34-23-8, 6th W) vs Severstal (28-23-13, 7th W)
About the game
Vityaz ends a three-game home series and won its previous couple of matches.
Severstal enters the second game of a four-match road trip coming off a win over Spartak on Saturday (3:1).
Vityaz has defeated Severstal twice this season (3:2, 4:1), and lost once (2:3).
Vityaz’s forward Scott Wilson is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
Vityaz’s defenseman Alexei Volgin is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.
19:30: Spartak (27-30-8, 9th W) vs Metallurg (34-19-11, 5th E)
About the game
Spartak enters the fourth game of a five-match home series following Saturday’s loss to Spartak.
Metallurg, who has already defeated Vityaz this season (2:1 OT), starts a three-game home series fresh off a win over HC Sochi on Saturday (4:2).
Metallurg’s defenseman Grigory Dronov is on a six-game scoring streak, with 8 (5+3) points over that span.
Injury list
Spartak: Danila Kvartalnov, Kirill Kozhevnikov, German Rubtsov, Fyodor Svechkov, Mark Verba.
19:30: CSKA (40-16-8, 2nd W) vs Torpedo (42-17-5, 4th W)
About the game
CSKA plays the lone home game of the series coming off a win over Lokomotiv on Saturday (2:1 OT).
Torpedo ends a two-game road trip and won its previous three matches.
Torpedo has defeated CSKA twice this season (4:2, 3:1), and lost once (0:4).
CSKA’s forward Mikhail Grigorenko is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (4+1) points over that span.
Torpedo’s forward Maxim Letunov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points.
Torpedo’s forward Vladislav Firstov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (1+4) points.
Injury list
CSKA: Danil Yurtaikin.
Torpedo: Andrei Belevich, Alexei Kruchinin, Yu Sato, Kirill Voronin.
