Sibir seeking fourth straight win

Sibir hosts Kunlun Red Star on an impressive three-game run, while the Dragons will seek revenge after a 1:7 defeat to Admiral in their most recent games. Another interesting game will be Ak Bars hosting Barys, with the Kazakhs having just achieved their first victory. Five games are on tap on an exciting KHL Thursday.

After a rocky start, Sibir moved to the fast line and won its previous three games, achieving victories over Severstal (5:2), Avangard (4:1), and Neftekhimik (5:2), who arrived in Novosibirsk as the leader of the Eastern Conference. Vladislav Kara, who just transferred to Sibir from Vityaz, is fitting in well with his new team – the forward has scored three goals in the last two games. Kunlun Red Star started their road trip strong by defeating Amur (3:2), but then suffered a crushing loss to Admiral (1:7). Will they be able to avoid a similar fate in Novosibirsk today?

Then, Traktor will finally have its home opener for the season. The Chelyabinsk side started off with a five-game road trip, earning seven out of a possible ten points. In their last games, Ben Groulx’s team secured convincing victories over SKA (3:0) and HC Sochi (4:1), followed by five days of preparation. Despite a setback in an away game against Sibir (2:5), Neftekhimik continues to lead the Eastern Conference with eight points, ahead of Salavat Yulaev due to tiebreakers. Traktor now has a chance to overcome Neftekhimik after tonight’s game.

In the last game in the East, Barys will visit Kazan. Two days earlier, the Astana side secured their long-awaited first victory of the season, defeating Avtomobilist on the road (2:1 OT). Their next opponents will be Ak Bars, who had three extra days to prepare for the upcoming game following a convincing win over Metallurg (2:0). Goalie Amir Miftakhov appears to be in fantastic shape for the hosts, and Barys will have to do an extra effort to get the puck on the back of the net.

The action then moves to the Western Conference, with Sochi hosting SKA. Last season, the Black Sea franchise defeated SKA at home twice, and the Sergei Zubov’s men will be seeking for another good streak. The upcoming game could be especially significant for goalie Sergei Ivanov, defenseman Maxim Fedotov, and forward Ilya Fedotov, as these players transferred to Sochi from SKA during the offseason.

Lastly, CSKA welcomes Vityaz. The Red-and-Blues enter the game after a convincing win over Dynamo Moscow, while the Moscow Region team has managed only two goals in their last two games, against Dynamo Minsk (1:5) and Lada (1:2), and now Pavel Desyatkov’s squad needs to avoid a third consecutive defeat. The visitors will face CSKA’s top offensive trio, who are leading the league in scoring, with Vitaly Abramov (5+6), Maxim Sorkin (5+4), and Prokhor Poltapov (3+6). They will also have to deal with several players sitting on injury list.

15:30: Sibir (3-3-0) vs Kunlun Red Star (3-3-0)

About the game

Sibir enters the third game of a six-match home series on a three-game winning streak.

Kunlun Red Star ends a three-game road trip following a loss to Admiral on Tuesday (1:7).

Sibir’s forward Sergei Shirokov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (4+2) points over that span.

Sibir’s forward Taylor Beck is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points.

Sibir’s forward Andy Andreoff is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points.

Injury list

Sibir: Dmitry Ovchinnikov.

Kunlun Red Star: Dylan Somerby.

17:00: Traktor (3-1-1) vs Neftekhimik (4-2-0)

About the game

Traktor starts its first home series, that will have four games, on a two-match winning streak.

Neftekhimik is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost to Sibir on Tuesday (2:5).

Traktor’s forward Maxim Shabanov is on a five-game scoring streak, with 7 (4+3) points over that span.

Injury list

Traktor: Alexei Lipanov, Yegor Popov, Dylan Sikura.

Milestone alert

Traktor’s forward Alexander Sharov and defenseman Artyom Blazhiyevsky may reach 100 KHL points (both are currently at 99).

Traktor’s forward Alexander Kadeikin may record his 100^th career goal (currently at 99).

19:00: Ak Bars (2-2-0) vs Barys (1-3-1)

About the game

Ak Bars is in the middle of a three-game home series and defeated Metallurg on Saturday (2:0).

Barys is in the middle of a three-game road trip and achieved its first win of the season on Tuesday against Avtomobilist (2:1 OT).

Ak Bars’ goalie Amir Miftakhov is on a 104:07 shutout streak.

Ak Bars’ forward Alexander Barabanov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points over that span.

His linemate, forward Dmitrij Jaskin, is on a six-game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points.

Injury list

Barys: Nathan Beaulieu, Batyrlan Muratov.

Milestone alert

Ak Bars’ forward Yegor Korshkov may reach 200 points in the league (currently at 199).

Ak Bars’ forward Semyon Koshelev may record his 100^th career helper (currently at 99).

Barys’ forward Damir Zhafyarov may reach 200 KHL assists (currently at 199).

It will be the first KHL game for JHL’s top referee of the last season, Valery Yakimov.

19:30: HC Sochi (2-2-0) vs SKA (2-2-1)

About the game

HC Sochi ends a three-game home series following a win over Torpedo on Monday (5:3).

SKA starts a two-game road trip and defeated Lada on Sunday (4:3 OT).

Injury list

HC Sochi: Amir Garayev.

SKA: Vitaly Glotov, Ivan Zinchenko.

19:30: CSKA (3-2-1) vs Vityaz (2-3-0)

About the game

CSKA ends a two-game home series and defeated Dynamo Moscow on Tuesday (3:1).

Vityaz plays the lone road game of the series and lost its previous couple of matches.

Injury list

CSKA: Christian Jaros, Colby Williams.

Vityaz: Ilya Arkalov, Vladimir Galuzin, Dean Stewart, Vladislav Tsitsyura, Grigory Vashchenko.