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Avangard faces Salavat Yulaev tonight, hot Spartak visits Sibir
Avangard and Salavat Yulaev is another confrontation that can rightfully be called a classic. Within the KHL, this will be the 80th meeting between the two sides. Interestingly, they often needed more than the regulation to determine the winner – in 25 cases, the game ended either in OT or SO. In the historical series, the Hawks lead 43 wins to 36. Interestingly enough, Salavat Yulaev has the most regulation wins (28 against 26), and the sides are tied with seven regulation losses each. However, Avangard collected 10 SO wins, while Ufa only had one. In the most recent encounter, last February, Vladislav Kartayev led a 3:1 Salavat Yulaev win with a double.
The KHL matchday will however start early in the Far East with Amur hosting CSKA and Admiral welcoming Vityaz. CSKA has just lost in OT to Admiral, while Vityaz had its last victory in Vladivostok back in 2017 – six years ago.
In the last match of this KHL Thursday, Sibir welcomes Spartak. The Red-and-Whites may reach 10 straight victories, but Novosibirsk is also on a good streak, having won its last three games. Both teams have their leaders in good shape – it will be an exciting battle with both sides being able to get a win. Perhaps the home fans will be treated to an OT?
12:00: Amur (8-8-5, 10th E) vs CSKA (11-9-2, 5th W)
About the game
Amur is in the middle of a three-game home series and lost its previous couple of matches.
CSKA is in the middle of a five-game road trip and has also lost its previous two matches.
Amur’s defenseman Yakov Rylov had an assist in each of his previous four games.
Injury list
Amur: Alex Broadhurst, Pyotr Khokhryakov.
CSKA: Vsevolod Skotnikov, Andrei Svetlakov.
Milestone alert
Amur’s defenseman Evgeny Kulik lines up for his 500th league appearance.
CSKA’s goalie Ivan Fedotov may reach 10 KHL shutouts.
12:30: Admiral (6-12-2, 12th E) vs Vityaz (6-14-2, 11th W)
About the game
Admiral ends a three-game home series and defeated CSKA on Tuesday (3:2 OT).
Vityaz, who has already defeated Admiral this season (2:1 SO), enters the second game of a four-match road trip following a loss to Dynamo Moscow also on Tuesday (2:5).
Admiral’s forward Alexander Gorshkov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that span.
Vityaz’s forward Scott Wilson is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points.
Injury list
Admiral: Pavel Varfolomeyev.
Vityaz: Ilya Arkalov, Nikolai Timashov, Vladislav Tsitsyura.
Milestone alert
Vityaz’s goalie Dmitry Shikin may reach 10 KHL shutouts.
15:30: Sibir (10-8-3, 7th E) vs Spartak (16-5-2, 1st W)
About the game
Sibir starts a three-game home series on a three-match winning streak.
Spartak, who has already defeated Sibir this season (5:2), ends a six-game road trip on a nine-match winning streak.
Sibir’s forward Taylor Beck is on a four-game scoring streak, with 7 (2+5) points over that span.
Sibir’s forward Nikolai Prokhorkin is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (1+4) points.
Sibir’s forward Vladimir Butuzov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points.
Sibir’s defenseman Yegor Alanov had an assist in each of his previous three games.
Spartak’s forward Nikolai Goldobin is on a nine-game scoring streak, with 18 (8+10) points.
Spartak’s goalie Patrik Rybar is on a 68:49 shutout streak.
Injury list
Sibir: Trevor Murphy.
Spartak: Daniel Usmanov.
Milestone alert
Sibir’s defenseman Timur Akhiyarov lines up for his 100th league appearance.
Sibir’s forward Nikolai Prokhorkin may reach 300 KHL points (currently at 298).
Spartak’s forward Pavel Poryadin may score his 100th assist in the KHL (currently at 99).
16:30: Avangard (11-7-3, 6th E) vs Salavat Yulaev (13-7-1, 4th E)
About the game
Avangard starts a three-game home series following a loss to Ak Bars on Tuesday (1:2 OT).
Salavat Yulaev ends a four-game road trip and defeated Torpedo also on Tuesday (1:0).
Avangard’s forward Vladimir Tkachyov is on a nine-game scoring streak, with 13 (3+10) points over that span.
Salavat Yulaev’s goalie Alexander Samonov is on a 68:41 shutout streak.
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Nikolai Kulemin had at least an assist in his latest three games, totaling four points.
Injury list
Avangard: Ivan Telegin.
Salavat Yulaev: Daniil Alalykin, Josh Leivo.
Milestone alert
Avangard’s goalie Vasily Demchenko may reach 20 KHL shutouts.
