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Four games on tap today!
Today’s biggest encounter for the playoff race will be Sibir paying a visit to Chelyabinsk. The Novosibirsk franchise found itself in the tenth place as yesterday’s performances by Amur and Neftekhimik haven’t killed Sibir’s hopes for a postseason qualification. However, Traktor has already defeated Sibir three times this season – it won’t be easy for Novosibirsk.
Barys, however, won’t just stand by and wait as today Avtomobilist comes to Astana with the Kazakhs needing a win. Barys is lagging behind in the Eastern Conference standings, and that’s why a home victory will be key for its playoff chances.
If Traktor and Avtomobilist would lose their games, it will be Lada to have a chance to benefit the most. The KHL newcomer faces HC Sochi today, with the Black Sea franchise losing sixteen out of its last seventeen games. Lada is currently the fifth seed in the East and can climb up even further.
Closing the KHL matchday is SKA facing Dinamo Minsk. The games between these two teams are always intriguing and uncertainty will be key today as well, with both teams needing points. SKA has already booked a playoff spot, but will be needing points to remain in the top four, while the Bisons do have a ten-point gap over the ninth Western seed, but they have already lost two straight games and will certainly want to return to victory to further increase their chances to reach the postseason.
16:30: Barys (19-27-6, 11th E) vs Avtomobilist (30-19-6, 4th E)
About the game
Barys ends a four-game home series and lost to CSKA on Friday (2:5).
Avtomobilist plays the lone road game of the series following a loss to Severstal also on Friday (0:3).
The teams have already defeated each other this season (3:2 SO, 2:5).
Injury list
Barys: Alikhan Asetov, Alex Grant, Joseph Labate, Eddie Pasquale, Roman Starchenko.
Avtomobilist: Semyon Kizimov, Maxim Osipov, Kirill Vorobyov.
17:00: Traktor (29-19-6, 6th E) vs Sibir (21-23-9, 10th E)
About the game
Traktor ends a three-game home series following a win over HC Sochi on Saturday (6:1).
Sibir starts a four-game road trip on a two-match losing streak.
Traktor has defeated Sibir three times this season (2:1 OT, 5:4 SO, 3:0).
Sibir’s forward Andy Andreoff is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (3+3) points over that span.
Injury list
Traktor: Andrei Chibisov.
18:00: Lada (27-17-11, 5th E) vs HC Sochi (15-32-6, 11th W)
About the game
Lada is in the middle of a three-game home series and defeated Vityaz on Saturday (2:1 SO).
HC Sochi, who has already defeated Lada this season (5:4 SO), enters the second game of a four-match road trip following a loss to Traktor also on Saturday (1:6).
Injury list
Lada: Pavel Koltygin, Alexei Ozhgikhin, Nikolai Vladimirov.
HC Sochi: Timur Khafizov, Kirill Rasskazov, Anton Sagadeyev.
Milestone alert
Lada’s forward Donat Stalnov may line up for his 100th league appearance.
19:30: SKA (35-16-2, 3rd W) vs Dinamo Minsk (23-24-5, 8th W)
About the game
SKA enters the third game of a six-match home series on a two-game winning streak.
Dinamo Minsk enters the second game of a four-match road trip after losing a couple of games.
The teams have already defeated each other this season (2:4, 3:2).
SKA’s forward Vasily Glotov, who celebrates 100 KHL games tonight, had at least an assist in each of his previous three games, totaling four helpers.
SKA’s forward Arseny Gritsyuk is on a nine-game scoring streak, with 13 (5+8) points over that span.
SKA’s forward Valentin Zykov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Injury list
SKA: Vadim Alistrov, Stepan Falkovsky, Andrei Pedan.
Dinamo Minsk: Vitaly Pinchuk, Brett Ritchie, Ivan Sekerin, Andrei Stas, Alexander Suvorov.
