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A hot matchday this Friday!
Sixteen teams hit the ice today, with a tense matchday starting early in the Far East. Amur hosts Salavat Yulaev on a disappointing seven-game losing streak, while Admiral welcomes Metallurg for a rematch after its win on Wednesday. Magnitka has a chance to reserve a playoff spot today should the Southern Urals side defeat the Sailors. They still have a chance to qualify for postseason in case of an OT or regulation loss, but there’s some intricacy: Neftekhimik should either lose to Traktor or suffer a regulation loss to Traktor, and Sibir loses to Severstal.
Another team with chances to clinch a playoff spot is Avangard. The Hawks host Ak Bars today for the fourth time this season, following three Kazan wins in the series. Playoffs will be guaranteed to Avangard in case of a win, but they should also count on a Neftekhimik’s regulation loss to Traktor and Sibir’s loss to Severstal - similar to what Metallurg will be looking for in case of a loss.
For the fourth game in the East, there’s yet another side who can conquer a playoff spot – Torpedo. The Igor Larionov’s young guns will pay a visit to Avtomobilist today, and a win will get them a playoff ticket. They will still have a chance in case of an OT loss should Vityaz avoid a regulation win over HC Sochi, or if both sides lose, but Torpedo gains more points today.
The last Eastern games feature Lada welcoming Barys and Neftekhimik hosting Traktor. Lada will be hunting for points for their quest to return to the top four, while Neftekhimik will be seeking to defend its eighth place in the Conference’s standings.
The action then moves to the West, with Lokomotiv hosting Dinamo Minsk after a disappointing home loss to HC Sochi. Then, as said, Vityaz hosts HC Sochi and Severstal entertains Sibir. Then, SKA faces CSKA for the fifth time this year. The St. Petersburg side has swept CSKA for now in the series, and they will be looking for another win.
12:00: Amur (21-22-11, 9th E) vs Salavat Yulaev (34-16-4, 3rd E)
About the game
Amur enters the second game of a four-match home series on a seven-game losing streak.
Salavat Yulaev, who has defeated Amur three times this season (4:1, 3:2 OT, 3:2 SO), enters the second game of a four-match road trip on a three-game winning streak.
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Alexander Chmelevsky is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points over that span.
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Alexander Sharov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points.
Injury list
Amur: Pyotr Khokhryakov, Cameron Lee, Yakov Rylov.
Milestone alert
Salavat Yulaev’s head coach Viktor Kozlov may celebrate his 100th KHL victory.
Salavat Yulaev’s Sergei Shmelyov lines up for his 600th league appearance.
12:30: Admiral (16-27-11, 12th E) vs Metallurg (36-14-6, 1st E)
About the game
Admiral enters the second game of a four-match home series following a win over Metallurg on Wednesday (2:1).
Metallurg enters the second game of a four-match road trip after its loss to the Sailors.
The teams have already defeated each other this season (2:5, 2:1).
Admiral’s forward Giovanni Fiore is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
Metallurg’s forward Nikita Mikhailis is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points.
Injury list
Admiral: Pavel Shen.
Metallurg: Yegor Korobkin.
16:30: Avangard (37-14-3, 2nd E) vs Ak Bars (32-20-2, 5th E)
About the game
Avangard starts a two-game home series fresh off a win over Severstal on Tuesday (6:2).
Ak Bars enters the second game of a five-match road trip on a three-game winning streak.
Ak Bars has achieved three wins over Avangard this season (5:4 ОТ, 2:1 ОТ, 4:0).
Avangard’s forward Reid Boucher is on an eight-game scoring streak, with 12 (5+7) points over that span.
Avangard’s defenseman Damir Sharipzyanov had at least an assist in his latest six games, totaling seven helpers.
Ak Bars’ forward Dmitry Katelevsky is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.
Ak Bars’ forward Artyom Lukoyanov, who may reach 200 KHL points tonight (currently at 199), is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Injury list
Avangard: Vladimir Tkachyov.
Ak Bars: Dmitrj Jaskin.
17:00: Avtomobilist (31-20-6, 4th E) vs Torpedo (32-19-3, 5th W)
About the game
Avtomobilist ends a two-game home series following a loss to Ak Bars on Wednesday (1:4).
Torpedo, who has defeated Avtomobilist this season (4:2), enters the second game of a four-match road trip on a two-game winning streak.
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Semyon Kizimov, Maxim Osipov, Kirill Vorobyov.
Torpedo: Vasily Atanasov.
18:00: Lada (27-17-12, 7th E) vs Barys (19-29-6, 11th E)
About the game
Lada, who has defeated Barys twice this season (2:1, 3:0), ends a three-game home series after a loss to HC Sochi on Monday (3:4 SO).
Barys ends a two-game road trip on a three-match losing streak.
Injury list
Lada: Yegor Babenko, Pavel Koltygin, Alexei Ozhgikhin, Nikolai Vladimirov.
Barys: Alex Grant, Joseph Labate, Roman Starchenko.
Milestone alert
Lada’s forward Donat Stalnov may line up for his 100th KHL game.
19:00: Lokomotiv (36-14-4, 1st W) vs Dinamo Minsk (24-25-5, 8th W)
About the game
Lokomotiv ends a six-game home series following a loss to HC Sochi on Wednesday (1:2).
Dinamo Minsk ends a four-game road trip following a loss to CSKA also on Wednesday 1:2).
The season series between the two teams is 1-2 (4:1, 2:3 SO, 1:2 OT).
Injury list
Lokomotiv: Yegor Averin, Nikita Cherepanov.
Dinamo Minsk: Vitaly Pinchuk, Brett Ritchie, Ivan Sekerin, Andrei Stas, Alexander Suvorov.
Milestone alert
Lokomotiv’s goalie Ivan Bocharov may record his 30th KHL shutout.
19:00: Vityaz (17-30-7, 9th W) vs HC Sochi (18-32-6, 10th W)
About the game
Vityaz, who has defeated HC Sochi twice this season (3:1, 3:1), ends a two-game home series after two consecutive losses.
HC Sochi ends a four-game road trip on a two-match winning streak.
Vityaz’s goalie Dmitry Shikin is on a 62:21 shutout streak. The goalie may celebrate his 10th league shutout tonight.
HC Sochi’s forward Artur Tyanulin is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
Injury list
Vityaz: Ilya Arkalov, Scott Wilson, Ivan Vorobyov.
HC Sochi: Timur Khafizov, Kirill Rasskazov, Anton Sagadeyev.
Milestone alert
HC Sochi’s forward Michal Kristof lines up for his 100th KHL game.
19:30: Neftekhimik (23-23-10, 8th E) vs Traktor (30-19-6, 6th E)
About the game
Neftekhimik is in the middle of a five-game home series and lost to Torpedo on Wednesday (2:3 OT).
Traktor starts a two-game road trip on a two-match winning streak.
The season series between the two teams is 1-2 (2:1, 1:4, 3:5).
Injury list
Neftekhimik: Rafael Bikmullin, Ilya Khokhlov, Ruslan Petrishchev, Nail Yakupov, Artyom Zagidulin.
Traktor: Andrei Chibisov.
Milestone alert
Traktor’s forward Jack Rodewald celebrates 100 league appearances.
Traktor’s forward Nikita Soshnikov may reach 100 KHL assists.
19:30: Severstal (27-20-7, 7th W) vs Sibir (22-24-9, 9th E)
About the game
Severstal, who has already defeated Sibir this season (2:1), enters the second game of a four-match home series following two straight losses.
Sibir enters the third game of a four-match road trip and has defeated Vityaz on Wednesday (4:1).
Sibir’s forward Andy Andreoff is on a six-game scoring streak, with 9 (4+5) points over that span.
Injury list
Severstal: Timur Davydov, Konstantin Shostak, Dmitry Shugayev.
19:30: SKA (36-16-3, 2nd W) vs CSKA (28-21-5, 6th W)
About the game
SKA enters the fifth game of a six-match home series following a win over Barys on Wednesday (7:0).
CSKA starts a two-game road trip fresh of a win over Dinamo Minsk also on Wednesday (2:1).
SKA has defeated CSKA four times this season (3:2, 2:1, 6:2, 2:0) and its goalie Nikita Serebryakov is on a 59:50 shutout streak.
CSKA’s forward Vladislav Kamenev is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points over that span.
Injury list
SKA: Vadim Alistrov, Andrei Pedan.
CSKA: Yaroslav Dyblenko, Marsel Ibragimov.
