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Ak Bars, Traktor battle out for an early playoff ticket
Today’s central showdown will be Ak Bars hosting Traktor – the winning side can book a ticket for the Gagarin Cup playoffs, but there will be some intricacy. In case of an Ak Bars’ win, Amur should also lose in regulation to Lada. But if Traktor will prevail, first of all the Chelyabinsk side should get a regulation win, then again Amur should lose to Lada. It will be the fourth game between the two sides this season, with Ak Bars being up two games to one in the series.
The matchday will however start earlier in Omsk, with a showdown between Avangard and Spartak. The Hawks have already defeated the Red-and-Whites this season, and they have just thumped SKA with a commanding 9:5 score, so they will be the favorites tonight. In the meantime, in Kazakhstan, Barys hosts the St. Petersburg franchise. It can be the last call for Barys – the Kazakhs need a win tonight to keep on having postseason hopes, or Amur needs to beat Lada. Moreover, they will celebrate their 1,000th KHL game, and they will be looking to return to victory after losing their previous eight matches. The Tigers, on their hand, won their latest two games and will be hunting for points today too as they keep on chasing eighth-seeded Neftekhimik.
Admiral is in a similar position to Barys’. The Sailors will travel to Yaroslavl and will need to win to keep their hopes alive, or again, Amur will defeat Lada. Lokomotiv, on its hand, will be at its second game in two days after yesterday’s 3:2 OT win over Sibir with Stepan Nikulin netting a hat-trick.
In the closing two games of the matchday, Vityaz hosts Severstal, while Dinamo Minsk welcomes CSKA. The Gagarin Cup reigning champions have defeated the Belarusians three times this season, but have also lost their previous three games – CSKA will be looking forward to rebounding back in an away game in Minsk.
16:30: Avangard (40-15-4, 2nd E) vs Spartak (35-17-8, 4th W)
About the game
Avangard, who has already defeated Spartak this season (3:1), is in the middle of a three-game home series and defeated SKA on Monday (9:5).
Spartak starts a four-game road trip fresh off a victory over Avtomobilist on Friday (3:0).
Spartak’s goalie Andrei Kareyev is on an 80:14 shutout streak.
Spartak’s forward Nikolai Goldobin is on a five-game scoring streak, with 6 (3+3) points over that span.
Spartak’s forward Ivan Morozov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points.
Injury list
Spartak: Yegor Filin, Joey Keane, Timur Khairullin, Andrei Loktionov, Mikhail Maltsev, Patrik Rybar.
16:30: Barys (19-33-7, 11th E) vs SKA (40-17-3, 2nd W)
About the game
Barys enters the fifth game of a six-match home series on an eight-game losing streak.
SKA, who has already defeated Barys this season (7:0), ends a four-game road trip and lost to Avangard on Monday (5:9).
SKA’s forward Marat Khairullin is on a six-game scoring streak, with 12 (3+9) points over that span.
Injury list
Barys: Alex Grant, Joseph Labate, Batyrlan Muratov.
SKA: Vadim Alistrov, Andrei Pedan.
18:00: Lada (29-19-13, 7th E) vs Amur (24-24-12, 9th E)
About the game
Lada ends a two-game home series and lost its previous three matches.
Amur ends a four-game road trip and is on a two-match winning streak.
The season series between the two teams is 1-2 (5:1, 2:4, 0:3).
Amur’s goalie Igor Bobkov is on a 68:32 shutout streak.
Amur’s forward Yegor Korshkov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points over that span.
Amur’s forward Jan Drozg is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (1+5) points.
Injury list
Lada: Artyom Ivanyuzhenkov, Pavel Koltygin, Alexei Ozhgikhin, Nikolai Vladimirov.
Amur: Evgeny Grachyov, Pyotr Khokhryakov, Cameron Lee, Yakov Rylov.
Milestone alert
Amur’s forward Alexander Kokhlachyov may reach 300 KHL points.
19:00: Ak Bars (35-22-2, 5th E) vs Traktor (33-21-6, 6th E)
About the game
Ak Bars ends a two-game home series following a loss to Sibir on Monday (1:4).
Traktor enters the second game of a six-match road trip on a two-game losing streak.
The season series between the two teams is 2-1 (5:3, 1:3, 4:1).
Injury list
Ak Bars: Dmitrij Jaskin.
Traktor: Andrei Chibisov.
19:00: Lokomotiv (39-16-4, 1st W) vs Admiral (18-31-11, 12th E)
About the game
Lokomotiv ends a two-game home series on a four-match winning streak.
Admiral, who has already defeated Lokomotiv this season (5:2), ends a four-game road trip after losing its previous couple of matches.
Injury list
Lokomotiv: Yegor Averin.
Admiral: Evgeny Lisovets, Pavel Shen.
19:00: Vityaz (18-35-7, 11th W) vs Severstal (31-21-7, 6th W)
About the game
Vityaz enters the fourth game of a seven-match home series on a four-game losing streak.
Severstal ends a three-game road trip on a three-match winning streak.
The season series between the two teams is 2-3 (0:3, 5:3, 2:6, 5:3, 3:4).
Injury list
Vityaz: Ilya Arkalov, Ivan Vorobyov, Ivan Yezhov.
Severstal: Konstantin Shostak, Dmitry Shugayev.
19:30: Dinamo Minsk (27-28-5, 8th W) vs CSKA (30-24-6, 7th W)
About the game
Dinamo Minsk ends a three-game home series following a loss to Severstal on Tuesday (2:4).
CSKA enters the second game of a five-match road trip on a three-game losing streak.
CSKA has defeated Dinamo Minsk three times this season (4:0, 5:3, 2:1).
Injury list
Dinamo Minsk: Yegor Borikov, Dmitry Deryabin, Vitaly Pinchuk, Brett Ritchie, Nikita Smirnov, Alexander Suvorov.
CSKA: Marsel Ibragimov.
Milestone alert
CSKA’s defenseman Yaroslav Dyblenko lines up for his 500th KHL game.
CSKA’s forward Sergei Plotnikov may reach 500 league points (currently at 499).
