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Last day of the regular season!
With the playoff lineup now complete following yesterday’s victory for Dinamo Minsk over Vityaz, Spartak will not have much to fight for in tonight's Moscow derby against Dynamo Moscow. With just one game left to play, Spartak’s four-point gap from the Belarusian side is unbridgeable. Nonetheless, they will want to secure a victory tonight to end the regular season on a positive note and build momentum heading into the new season.
In the Eastern Conference, the only positions left to be determined are the final ones, as Ak Bars is already set to face Neftekhimik in the first round of the playoffs. However, tonight they will be without Alexander Radulov, who sustained an injury in his most recent match and will be rested as a precautionary measure since Kazan has already secured the first spot in the East. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov can afford to rest one of his key players for the game.
Perhaps an even more exciting matchup is Sibir hosting Avtomobilist. If Novosibirsk wins tonight and Avangard loses to Kazan, Novosibirsk could end up as high as second in the Eastern standings. Then, Traktor will host Torpedo. The Chelyabinsk side might have expected a different outcome, as they currently sit in a disappointing ninth place, but they still have one game left to please the home crowd. Additionally, several players have milestones to reach. Despite their underwhelming place in the standings, Traktor still has reason to fight on.
Fans should expect a real battle in Magnitogorsk, when Metallurg hosts Salavat Yulaev. Both teams will play hard as there’s a top-four placement up for grabs – and that means home ice advantage in the playoffs’ first round. Metallurg achieved four victories over Ufa this season, and Nikita Korostelyov netted his first KHL hat-trick in his most recent game, thus the momentum is perhaps on Ilya Vorobyov’s side for this game.
In the West, CSKA and Severstal have an anticipation of the Gagarin Cup playoffs’ first round as the Steelers host the Muscovites on home ice. CSKA had four straight wins – all by more than a solid margin – and they will try to keep on gaining form as the elimination stage approach. A showdown between HC Sochi and Kunlun Red Star closes an exciting last matchday in this year’s regular season.
12:30: Sibir (38-22-7, 4thE) vs Avtomobilist (36-22-9, 6thE)
About the game
Sibir ends a three-game home series after a loss to Salavat Yulaev on Friday.
Avtomobilist plays the lone road game of the trip and lost its previous couple of matches.
Sibir has defeated Avtomobilist thrice this season (2:1 SO, 4:0, 1:0 SO) and lost twice (2:5, 3:5).
Sibir’s forward Alexander Sharov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (1+5) points over that span.
Sibir’s forward Valentin Pyanov is also on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points.
Avtomobilist’s forward Curtis Valk is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points.
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Anatoly Golyshev, Daniil Tarasov, Nikita Tryamkin.
Milestone alert
Avtomobilist’s defenseman Jesse Blacker may score his 100thKHL point (currently at 99).
His teammate, forward Stephane Da Costa, may reach 200 KHL assists (currently at 199).
12:30: Traktor (30-27-10, 9thE) vs Torpedo (42-19-6, 4thW)
About the game
Traktor plays the lone home game of the series and won its previous couple of matches.
Torpedo, who has already defeated Traktor this season (4:3), ends a two-game road trip and lost its previous three matches.
Traktor’s forward Anton Burdasov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
Torpedo’s forward Sergei Goncharuk is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 6 (4+2) points.
Injury list
Torpedo: Alexei Kruchinin.
Milestone alert
Traktor’s forward Vladimir Tkachyov lines up for his 600thKHL game, while Torpedo’s forward Kirill Voronin reaches 400.
Traktor’s forward Alexei Byvaltsev may score his 200thpoint in the KHL (currently at 199), while his teammate Teemu Pulkkinen has a chance to become the seventh Finnish player to reach 100 goals (currently at 99).
15:00: Metallurg (35-20-12, 5thE) vs Salavat Yulaev (37-20-10, 3rdE)
About the game
Metallurg plays the lone home game of the series following a win over Ak Bars on Friday (6:3).
Salavat Yulaev ends a three-game road trip and won its previous couple of matches.
Metallurg has defeated Salavat Yulaev four times this season (3:2, 2:1, 3:1, 3:2) and lost once (0:2).
Metallurg’s forward Philippe Maillet is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (1+5) points over that span.
Metallurg’s forward Brendan Leipsic is also on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points.
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Alexander Chmelevski is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (1+4) points.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Josh Ho-Sang.
Milestone alert
Metallurg’s forward Anatoly Nikontsev may line up for his 700thKHL game.
Metallurg’s forward Andrei Chibisov may reach 100 KHL assists (currently at 99).
15:00: Severstal (30-24-13, 7thW) vs CSKA (43-16-8, 2ndW)
About the game
Severstal plays the lone home game of the series after a loss to HC Sochi on Friday (3:4).
CSKA plays the lone road game of the trip coming off a four-game winning streak.
Severstal has defeated CSKA twice this season (4:1, 4:1), and lost once (2:4).
CSKA’s forward Konstantin Okulov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 7 (2+5) points over that span.
CSKA’s forward Mikhail Grigorenko is on a seven-game scoring streak, with 10 (7+3) points.
CSKA’s forward Vladimir Kamenev is on a three.game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points.
CSKA’s defenseman Andrei Sergeyev had at least an assist in each of his previous three games, totalling four helpers.
Injury list
CSKA: Danil Yurtaikin.
17:00: HC Sochi (10-47-10, 11thW) vs Kunlun Red Star (21-39-7, 10thW)
About the game
HC Sochi ends a three-game home series fresh off a win over Severstal on Friday (4:3).
Kunlun Red Star ends a three-game road trip on a six-match losing streak.
The Dragons have defeated Sochi four times this season (3:1, 5:2, 3:0, 5:1) and lost once (2:7).
HC Sochi’s forward Artur Tyanulin is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points over that span.
HC Sochi’s forward Amir Garayev had an assist in each of his previous three games, totaling four helpers.
Injury list
Kunlun Red Star: Paris O’Brien.
Milestone alert
HC Sochi’s goalie Maxim Tretyak may play his 100thKHL game.
17:30: Ak Bars (40-18-9, 1stE) vs Avangard (39-21-6, 2ndE)
About the game
Ak Bars ends a two-game home series after a loss to Metallurg on Friday (3:6).
Avangard plays the lone road game of the trip and won its previous four matches.
Ak Bars has defeated Avangard thrice this season (3:2 OT, 2:1, 2:0), and lost twice (3:4, 1:2 OT).
Ak Bars’ forward Alexander Radulov is on a five-game scoring streak, with 8 (3+5) points over that span.
Ak Bars’ forward Dmitry Voronkov is also on a five-game scoring streak, with 8 (5+3) points over that span.
Ak Bars’ forward Kirill Petrov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Avangard’s forward Sergei Tolchinsky is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.
Avangard’s defenseman Semyon Chistyakov had an assist in each of his previous three matches.
Avangard’s forward Ivan Telegin had a tally in each of his previous three games.
Injury list
Ak Bars: Nikita Yevseyev.
Avangard: Stanislav Galimov.
17:30: Dynamo Moscow (37-19-11, 5thW) vs Spartak (28-31-8, 9thW)
About the game
Dynamo Moscow plays the lone home game of the series following a home defeat to CSKA on Friday (4:5 OT).
Spartak plays the lone road game of the trip after losing to CSKA on Wednesday (1:7).
Dynamo Moscow has defeated Spartak thrice this season (2:1 SO, 5:2, 3:2) and lost twice (2:3 SO, 1:2).
Injury list
Spartak: Danila Kvartalnov, Kirill Kozhevnikov, German Rubtsov, Fyodor Svechkov, Mark Verba.
Dynamo Moscow: Sergei Boikov.
