First Green Derby tonight!
Fourteen league teams hit the ice today, with five clashes in the Eastern Conference. Today’s showdown between Avangard and Admiral promises an exciting clash. Avangard began with a strong showing, while Admiral struggled to find their rhythm. Interestingly, the last six encounters between these teams have all concluded in either OT or SO, suggesting a fierce rivalry.
One key player to watch is Ryan Spooner, who has been on a scoring streak for Avangard, adding extra firepower to their offense. Meanwhile, Admiral’s coach, Leonids Tambijevs, is celebrating his 100th game in the league, a significant milestone in his coaching career.
In Chelyabinsk, Traktor will host Dinamo Minsk as both teams are eyeing a return to victory. Other two interesting games will see Avtomobilist facing Neftekhimik on a rematch of Monday’s encounter, and Metallurg welcoming Lada.
There are several exciting matches scheduled for today, but the brightest – and most awaited – of them will be the first Green Derby of the season. The showdown between Salavat Yulaev and Ak Bars needs no special introduction. This incredible rivalry has been going on for many years and regularly delivers amazing emotions.
In the KHL, Salavat Yulaev and Ak Bars have faced each other 91 times, with a victory advantage for Kazan, with 49 wins. In the 2022-2023 season, the teams met six times and each team secured three victories. Moreover, as further motivation, Vadim Shipachyov may establish a league’s record tonight. Not enough? Head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov is at 399 KHL wins.
The action then moves to the Western Conference, with two games. First, Torpedo hosts Kunlun Red Star as both teams had a strong start of this year’s campaign. Then, Vityaz welcomes Spartak. The Red-and-Whites from Moscow did lack some consistency in this first phase, yet they had a nice win over SKA, with Patrik Rybar’s first shutout of the season.
Seven games are on tap today as the standings start to form following the first ten days of action.
16:30 Avangard (3-1-0) vs Admiral (1-2-1)
About the game
Avangard enters the fifth game of a six-match home series following a loss to Amur on Monday (1:5).
Admiral enters the fifth game of a six-match road trip and lost to Torpedo on Tuesday (1:3).
Avangard’s forward Ryan Spooner is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points over that span.
Injury list
Avangard: Reid Boucher, Semyon Chistyakov, Ivan Nikolishin, Valentin Pyanov.
Admiral: Evgeny Lisovets, Pavel Makhanovsky.
Milestone alert
Avangard’s forward Vladimir Tkachyov may score his 100th goal in the league (currently at 98).
Avangard’s forward Igor Geraskin may reach 100 KHL assists (currently at 99).
Admiral’s coach Leonids Tambijevs celebrates 100 games as a head coach.
17:00 Traktor (2-2-1) vs Dinamo Minsk (2-2-1)
About the game
Traktor enters the second game of a four-match home series after a loss to Lada on Monday (1:3).
Dinamo Minsk enters the fifth game of a six-match road trip and is on a three-game losing streak.
Traktor’s forward Vitaly Kravtsov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points over that span.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Vitaly Pinchuk is on a four-game scoring streak, with 8 (4+4) points.
Injury list
Traktor: Andrei Chibisov, Maxim Marushev.
Dinamo Minsk: Alexander Suvorov.
17:00 Avtomobilist (3-1-1) vs Neftekhimik (1-2-1)
About the game
Avtomobilist plays the lone home game of the series after a loss to Neftekhimik on Monday (0:1)
Neftekhimik starts a four-game road trip fresh off a win over Avtomobilist on Monday (1:0).
Neftekhimik’s goalie Emil Garipov is on a 59:26 shutout streak.
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Nick Ebert.
Neftekhimik: Danila Popov.
Milestone alert
Avtomobilist’s defenseman Yefim Gurkin may reach 100 career assists (currently at 99).
Avtomobilist’s forward Alexei Byvaltsev may score his 200th KHL point (currently at 199).
Neftekhimik’s defenseman Mikhail Sidorov celebrates his 300th appearance in the league.
17:00 Metallurg (4-0-1) vs Lada (2-3-0)
About the game
Metallurg starts a four-game home series on a four-match winning streak.
Lada enters the second game of a four-match road trip and won its previous couple of games.
Metallurg’s forward Nikita Korobkin had an assist in his each of his last four games.
Metallurg’s forward Danila Yurov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that span.
Lada’s forward Scott Kosmachuk is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points.
Lada’s forward Troy Josephs is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (4+1) points.
Injury list
Lada: Artyom Ivanyuzhenkov.
17:00 Salavat Yulaev (2-2-0) vs Ak Bars (4-1-0)
About the game
Salavat Yulaev enters the second game of a five-match home series following a loss to Metallurg on Monday (1:2)
Ak Bars plays the lone road game of the series and is on a two-match winning streak.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Danil Alalykin, Daniil Ogirchuk.
Ak Bars: Artyom Galimov, Vyacheslav Voynov.
Milestone alert
Ak Bars’ head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov may celebrate his 400th KHL win.
Vadim Shipachyov may surpass Sergei Mozyakin for the all-time most points in the regular season (755 against 756).
19:00 Torpedo (4-0-0) vs Kunlun Red Star
About the game
Torpedo ends a four-game home series and won its previous four matches.
Kunlun Red Star ends a two-game road trip and lost to Lokomotiv on Tuesday (1:2).
Torpedo’s forward Nikolai Kovalenko is on a five-game scoring streak, with 6 (3+3) points over that span.
Torpedo’s forward Vladislav Firstov is a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points.
Torpedo’s defenseman Ivan Silayev had at least an assist in each of his previous three games, totaling four points.
Kunlun Red Star’s forward Jake Rodewald is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points.
Injury list
Torpedo: Sergei Goncharuk, Alexei Kruchinin, Dennis Yan.
Kunlun Red Star: Parker Foo, Alexander Lazushin, Corey Kane.
19:30 Vityaz (1-4-0) vs Spartak (3-2-0)
About the game
Vityaz enters the sixth game of a seven-match home series on a two-game losing streak.
Spartak enters the second game of a two-match road trip following a win over SKA on Tuesday (0:3).
Spartak’s goalie Patrik Rybar is on a 59:55 shutout streak.
Spartak’s forward Alexander Burmistrov had an assist in each of his previous four games.
Injury list
Vityaz: Scott Wilson.
