Spartak facing Severstal on a busy KHL matchday!
All the playoff participants are now set, but only one pair is certain: Spartak will be facing Severstal in the playoffs’ first round. Every game between Spartak and Severstal this season is a celebration of high-scoring hockey. In September, Spartak won twice (6:4, 5:3), and on Feb 14 in Cherepovets, it was Severstal’s turn (4:2). The Steelers achieved that win without their top scorer Kirill Pilipenko. Now Pilipenko has returned to the lineup, and in his very first game after the injury, he scored 3 (1+2) points, equaling the club’s scoring record in the KHL regular season set by Vadim Shipachyov back in the 2011-2012 season (59 points). The forward has recently climbed up to the 60-point mark.
The first game of a busy matchday will be Torpedo facing CSKA. The Nizhny Novgorod side will try once again to revert the trend after five straight losses, but today’s game won’t be an easy one as CSKA will want to gain form in sight of the playoffs. Then, in Kazakhstan, Barys welcomes Lada, with the KHL newcomer having just halted a skid defeating Avangard on Thursday (3:2 OT). Following their loss against Lada, the Hawks take on Traktor today to start their last road trip for this year’s regular season as the struggle for the top spot in the East is getting more and more interesting as now Avangard and Metallurg are tied at 91 points. Magnitka will face Vityaz at home today. In third place is Salavat Yulaev, who welcomes Sibir as the teams meet for the fourth time this season, with the Ufa team winning each game so far.
In the last game of the matchday in the Eastern Conference, Ak Bars welcomes Amur with several leaders seeking milestones – that can be an extra motivation for them as Kazan will also need to save its spot in the top four as the team is tied with Avtomobilist in the standings with a game more to go.
To end an emotion-packed KHL Saturday, Dynamo Moscow faces Admiral. The Blue-and-Whites will be looking for points to try and get on summit in the West, with Nikita Gusev hunting Mozyakin’s record for the most points in the regular season. The two productive forwards are now tied at 85 points.
13:00: Torpedo (34-26-6, 6th W) vs CSKA (33-26-7, 7th W)
About the game
Torpedo starts a two-game home series on a five-game losing streak.
CSKA starts a two-game road trip fresh off a win over Sibir on Thursday (4:3 OT).
Torpedo’s forward Nikolai Kovalenko is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points over that span.
Torpedo’s forward Sergei Goncharuk is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points.
CSKA’s forward Maxim Mamin is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points.
CSKA’s forward Vladislav Kamenev is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points.
The season series between the two teams is 1-2 (2:7, 3:2 OT, 2:3)
Injury list
Torpedo: Kirill Kirsanov.
CSKA: Marsel Ibragimov.
14:00: Barys (20-38-8, 12th E) vs Lada (30-22-14, 7th E)
About the game
Barys starts a two-game home series on a three-match losing streak.
Lada enters the fifth game of a six-match road trip following a win over Avangard on Thursday (3:2 OT).
Lada has defeated Barys three times this season so far (1:2, 0:3, 0:2).
Injury list
Barys: Alex Grant, Kirill Savitsky, Yegor Shalapov.
Lada: Nikolai Demidov, Alexei Ozhgikhin, Nikolai Vladimirov.
Milestone alert
Lada’s goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky may line up for his 300th KHL game.
14:30: Traktor (35-25-6, 6th E) vs Avangard (43-18-5, 2nd E)
About the game
Traktor is in the middle of a three-game home series and defeated Vityaz on Thursday (3:0).
Avangard starts a two-game road trip after a loss to Lada also on Thursday (2:3 OT).
The season series between the two teams is 2-1 (4:1, 1:2 ОТ, 5:4).
Traktor’s goalie Zach Fucale is on a 110:42 shutout streak.
Traktor’s forward Charles Robinson is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points over that span.
Injury list
Traktor: Andrei Chibisov, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev.
Avangard: Ruslan Abrosimov, Ivan Telegin.
Milestone alert
Traktor’s forward Anton Burdasov may reach 400 KHL points (currently at 399), while defenseman Grigory Dronov may reach 100 (currently at 99).
Avangard’s defenseman Yegor Rykov may line up for his 300th league appearance.
14:30: Salavat Yulaev (41-19-6, 3rd E) vs Sibir (27-28-11, 10th E)
About the game
Salavat Yulaev is in the middle of a three-game home series and defeated Admiral on Wednesday (3:0).
Sibir is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost to CSKA on Thursday (3:4 OT).
Salavat Yulaev has defeated Sibir three times this season so far (2:0, 3:2 ОТ, 4:2).
Salavat Yulaev’s goalie Alexander Samonov is on a 60:32 shutout streak.
Sibir’s defenseman Trevor Murphy is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points over that span.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Alexander Chmelevsky, Alexei Pustozyorov, Yegor Suchkov.
Milestone alert
Sibir’s defenseman Ziyat Paigin may line up for his 400th league appearance.
15:00: Metallurg (42-17-7, 1st E) vs Vityaz (20-39-6, 11th W)
About the game
Metallurg, who has already defeated Vityaz this season (4:3), enters the third game of a four-match home series on a two-game winning streak.
Vityaz enters the third game of a four-match road trip following a loss to Traktor on Thursday (0:3).
Metallurg’s goalie Ilya Nabokov is on a 64:37 shutout streak.
Injury list
Vityaz: Ilya Arkalov.
17:00: Ak Bars (39-25-2, 4th E) vs Amur (29-25-12, 8th E)
About the game
Ak Bars is in the middle of a three-game home series and lost its previous couple of matches.
Amur is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost to Metallurg on Thursday (0:3).
Ak Bars has defeated Amur three times this season so far (5:1, 5:3, 3:2 OT).
Injury list
Ak Bars: Dmitrij Jaskin.
Amur: Evgeny Grachyov, Pyotr Khokhryakov, Sergei Lapin, Cameron Lee.
Milestone alert
Ak Bars’ forward Alexander Radulov may reach 700 KHL points (currently at 696).
Ak Bars’ forward Dmitry Kagarlitsky may get to 500 (currently at 497).
Ak Bars’ goalie Timur Bilyalov may record his 150th KHL win.
17:00: Spartak (39-19-8, 4th W) vs Severstal (36-22-8, 5th W)
About the game
Spartak enters the third game of a four-match home series following a win over Torpedo on Tuesday (7:3).
Severstal enters the third game of a four-match road trip following a loss to Dynamo Moscow also on Tuesday (2:3).
The season series between the two teams is 2-1 (6:4, 5:3, 2:4).
Spartak’s goalie Dmitry Nikolayev is on an 80:55 shutout streak.
Injury list
Spartak: Joey Keane, Patrik Rybar.
Severstal: Timur Mukhanov, Konstantin Shostak, Dmitry Shugayev.
Milestone alert
Spartak’s forward Ansel Galimov may reach 100 KHL tallies (currently at 99).
Spartak’s forward Shane Prince may record his 100th league assist (currently at 99).
17:00: Dynamo Moscow (44-16-6, 3rd W) vs Admiral (21-34-11, 11th E)
About the game
Dynamo Moscow, who has already defeated Admiral this season (5:4), enters the third game of a four-match home series on a seven-game winning streak.
Admiral is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost to Salavat Yulaev on Wednesday (0:3).
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Artyom Ilyenko had an assist in each of his previous four games.
Injury list
Dynamo Moscow: Cedric Paquette, Artyom Volchenkov.
Admiral: Evgeny Lisovets, Pavel Shen.
Milestone alert
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Nikita Gusev may reach 600 KHL points and may break Sergei Mozyakin’s record for the most single regular season points in the league’s history.
