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Top clash between Metallurg and Spartak
Today’s highly anticipated clash between Metallurg and Spartak promises to be a thrilling showdown as both teams, leading their respective conferences, vie for supremacy. Metallurg enters the game on an impressive nine-match winning streak, presenting a formidable challenge for Spartak, who seeks to bounce back after two consecutive losses. However, both teams face challenges as key players will be absent from the match. Metallurg will be without Grigory Dronov and Nikita Kvartalnov, while Spartak will miss the contributions of Dmitry Vishnevsky and Ivan Morozov. This encounter holds added significance as the teams have a historical record favoring Metallurg, having won 22 out of 28 meetings in KHL history.
Another exciting showdown will see SKA facing Torpedo. The St. Petersburg franchise is on a seven-win streak, and has now a chance to reach Nizhny Novgorod at 42 points in the standings. However, Torpedo has already defeated the Roman Rotenberg’s squad this season, and several of its leaders are on an active scoring streak.
The matchday will however start in the Eastern Conference, with Sibir hosting Neftekhimik – the Wolves have already defeated Sibir this year, and it will be a key encounter from a postseason qualification point of view. Novosibirsk achieved a victory against Sochi in its last game, while Neftekhimik got a precious point in Astana forcing to OT its game against Barys. In Ufa, then, Salavat Yulaev hosts Traktor on a Russian hockey classic game – it’s the fourth encounter between the two sides, with the Bashkortostan team having won them all so far. In the closing game in the East, Avtomobilist hosts Lada. The Togliatti side is having a tremendous season, and they confirmed their good shape taking one point in Thursday’s showdown in Yaroslavl, where Lokomotiv prevailed only after OT.
In the Western Conference, while SKA faces off with Torpedo, Vityaz hosts Ak Bars. The Kazan franchise isn’t in its best shape, and will seek a return to victory today, following a rare streak of three straight losses.
12:00: Sibir (15-14-5, 8th E) vs Neftekhimik (14-14-6, 10th E)
About the game
Sibir enters the second game of an eight-match home series and defeated HC Sochi on Wednesday (5:2).
Neftekhimik, who has already defeated Sibir this season (3:1), ends a two-game road trip following a loss to Barys on Thursday (4:3 OT).
Injury list
Sibir: Georgy Belousov, Trevor Murphy.
Neftekhimik: Emil Garipov.
Milestone alert
Sibir’s goalie Anton Krasotkin may line up for his 200th league appearance.
14:30: Metallurg (23-8-4, 1st E) vs Spartak (23-9-3, 1st W)
About the game
Metallurg ends a four-game home series and won nine straight matches.
Spartak enters the third game of a six-match road trip and lost its previous couple of games.
Spartak’s forward Maxim Tsyplakov had at least a goal in each of his previous five matches, totaling seven tallies.
Injury list
Metallurg: Grigory Dronov, Nikita Kvartalnov.
Spartak: Dmitry Vishnevsky, Ivan Morozov.
Milestone alert
Metallurg’s forward Yegor Korobkin lines up for his 200th KHL game.
Spartak’s forward Pavel Poryadin may reach 200 KHL points (currently at 199).
14:30: Salavat Yulaev (20-13-1, 4th E) vs Traktor 18-12-4, 6th E)
About the game
Salavat Yulaev, who has already defeated Traktor three times this season (5:3, 4:0, 4:3), enters the second game of a four-match road trip and defeated Avangard on Wednesday (3:1).
Traktor ends a two-game road trip and lost its previous couple of matches.
Traktor’s forward Maxim Shabanov is on a fourteen-game scoring streak, with 19 (9+10) points over that span.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Artyom Pimenov, Sergei Shmelyov.
Traktor: Viktor Antipin, Andrei Chibisov, Sergei Mylnikov, Vladimir Zharkov.
15:00: Avtomobilist (18-13-4, 7th E) vs Lada (19-9-7, 3rd E)
About the game
Avtomobilist is in the middle of a three-game home series and lost its previous couple of matches.
Lada enters the second game of a five-match road trip and lost to Lokomotiv on Thursday (1:2 OT).
Avtomobilist’s forward Brooks Macek is on a five-game scoring streak, with 7 (3+4) points over that span.
Lada’s forward Ostap Safin is on a seven-game scoring streak, with 9 (2+7) points.
Lada’s forward Dmitry Kugryshev is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (5+1) points.
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Maxim Denezhkin, Semyon Kizimov, Vladimir Kuznetsov.
Lada: Pavel Koltygin, Scott Kosmachuk, Danila Moiseyev, Nikita Popugayev, Nikolai Vladimirov.
17:00: Vityaz (12-18-4, 11th W) vs Ak Bars (19-13-2, 5th W)
About the game
Vityaz plays the lone home game of the series and defeated Severstal on Sunday (5:3).
Ak Bars, who has already defeated Vityaz this season (5:4 OT), ends a three-game road trip and lost its previous three matches.
Injury list
Ak Bars: Maxim Bykov, Amir Miftakhov, Semyon Terekhov.
Milestone alert
Vityaz’s goalie Dmitry Shikin may record his 10th KHL shutout.
17:00: SKA (20-13-0, 5th W) vs Torpedo (20-12-2, 4th W)
About the game
SKA is in the middle of a five-game home series and won its previous seven games.
Torpedo, who has already defeated SKA this season (4:3), is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost to Dynamo Moscow on Thursday (2:3).
SKA’s forward Vadim Alistrov is on a five-game scoring streak, with 8 (2+6) points over that span.
Torpedo’s forwards Vitaly Atanasov and Alexei Kruchinin are on an identical three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Torpedo’s forward Nikolai Kovalenko is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 6 (1+5) points.
Torpedo’s defenseman Anton Sizov had an assist in each of his previous three games.
Injury list
SKA: Stepan Falkovsky, Nikita Kamalov, Brendan Leipsic, Andrei Pedan.
Torpedo: Kirill Kirsanov, Igor Larionov, Bobby Lynch, Yu Sato.
