Vadim Shipachyov at one step to all-time KHL scoring record
Vadim Shipachyov has a chance to match Sergei Mozyakin's record in his 1,001st league appearance. The game is coincidentally another record-matching, as he only needs one more to surpass Evgeny Biryukov for the most KHL games.
The KHL matchday starts once again early with two games in the Far East. Amur and Admiral will swap opponents, with the Tigers hosting Severstal and the Sailors welcoming Lada. The Cherepovets franchise hasn’t collected a win in Khabarovsk for more than five years, with the most recent victory dating back to Jan. 13, 2019 (3:2 SO). Most recently, Severstal celebrated a win in Vladivostok after a strong comeback (6:5 OT), while Amur fell to Lada at home (3:5) after a shutout win on Sunday (2:0).
In the second Far East game, Admiral hosts Lada. The two sides had back-to-back games in early October, with the teams trading wins. It will be the same now, with the two sides meeting again on Saturday. The Sailors lost their most recent couple of games, while Lada has most recently won in Khabarovsk. Only one point separates Admiral and Lada in the Eastern Conference’s standings, but the Sailors can boast a favorable, seventh seed. The Sailors have also played two fewer games.
In the last Eastern game of the matchday, Avangard hosts Spartak. The Hawks returned to victory after two straight losses when they defeated Traktor on Monday (3:1). They will return home and start a new four-game series hosting Spartak, who has just suffered from a disappointing loss against Dynamo in a Moscow Derby (0:5). Despite the win, Avangard is still far from the playoff places, while Spartak slipped down to third place in the West, being surpassed by SKA.
The action then moves to the Western Conference, with Torpedo trying to return to win as they are back in Nizhny Novgorod for two games, the first of which against Neftekhimik. The Wolves are on a two-game losing streak, with losses to Sibir (1:2) and SKA (2:3 OT). They will be looking to grab a win today to return to the top four in the East standings. Torpedo just lost to Traktor in OT and has four wins in its last five games, and they remain the team to beat in today’s clash.
Another Western team in good shape is Vityaz. The Moscow Region franchise defeated HC Sochi twice (4:2, 5:4 OT) and Lokomotiv (2:1), and has four wins in its latest five matches. Today, the opposition is Avtomobilist. The Motormen had only two wins in their last five encounters, and slipped down to second place in the Eastern Conference standings, with Traktor overtaking the top of the table. However, leading forwards, imports Brooks Macek and Stephane Da Costa are on a scoring streak, and such productive players can have a strong influence on a game’s outcome.
In Belarus, Dinamo Minsk will host Metallurg. This game marks an important milestone, with the host’s forward Vadim Shipachyov lining up for his 1,001st KHL game, tying the record for the most games currently held by Evgeny Biryukov. Moreover, the productive forward only lacks two points to surpass Sergei Mozyakin at the top of the all-time scorers in the league, with 927 points against Mozyakin’s 928. Shipachyov is on a scoring streak, and he will try to ride the momentum. However, Metallurg won’t like to be just a spectator to Shipachyov’s records, and will want to return to victory as the Gagarin Cup reigning champion starts a road trip following a home loss to Ak Bars (0:5) on Monday.
And finally, the fans will be treated to the clash of the season between SKA and CSKA. In fact, it could be said that this will also be the first such derby in the new era of CSKA. The last time these teams faced each other was in February, when Sergei Fedorov was the head coach for the Muscovites— that game ended with a 2:1 SKA victory. Now, however, CSKA is led by Ilya Vorobyov, who worked with SKA during the 2018-2019 season and knows very well that for the St. Petersburg team, his current club is one of their biggest irritants. Vorobyov personally experienced this in the 2019 playoffs when CSKA defeated SKA in the Western Conference Final (4-3). However, CSKA lost in extra time its previous couple of games, against Avtomobilist (3:4 SO) and Dinamo Minsk (5:4 OT), respectively. SKA is instead in good shape, with two straight wins that propelled the St. Petersburg franchise to second place in the West. It will be an exciting game, and a sold-out crowd is expected in St. Petersburg.
12:00: Amur (5-8-2, 11th E) vs Severstal (9-7-0, 5th W)
About the game
Amur enters the third game of a four-match home series following a loss to Lada on Tuesday (3:5).
Severstal is in the middle of a three-game road trip and defeated Admiral also on Tuesday (6:5 OT).
Injury list
Amur: Kirill Slepets.
Severstal: Makar Fomin, Ioannis Kaldis.
12:30: Admiral (6-5-3, 7th E) vs Lada (6-8-2, 9th E)
About the game
Admiral enters the second game of a four-match home series on a two-game losing streak.
Lada enters the third game of a four-match road trip after a win over Amur on Tuesday (5:3).
The teams have traded wins this season so far (2:0, 0:1 SO).
Injury list
Admiral: Stepan Starkov.
Lada: Andrei Altybarmakyan.
Milestone alert
Admiral’s defenseman Semyon Ruchkin lines up for his 200th league appearance.
Admiral’s defenseman Libor Sulak may record his 100th KHL point (currently at 99).
16:30: Avangard (6-9-1, 10th E) vs Spartak (9-4-2, 3rd W)
About the game
Avangard starts a four-game home series fresh off a road win over Traktor on Monday (3:1).
Spartak enters the second game of a four-match road trip following a loss to Dynamo Moscow also on Monday (0:5).
Injury list
Avangard: Mikhail Berdin, Vladimir Tkachyov.
Spartak: Daniil Ivanov.
Milestone alert
Spartak’s forward Shane Prince may line up for his 300th KHL game.
Spartak’s forward Nikolai Goldobin may net his 100th tally in the league (currently at 98).
Spartak’s forward Ansel Galimov may record his 100th assists in the KHL (currently at 99).
Spartak’s goalie Patrik Rybar may celebrate his 50th KHL win.
19:00: Torpedo (8-5-2, 6th W) vs Neftekhimik (7-5-4, 5th E)
About the game
Torpedo starts a two-game home series following a loss to Traktor on Saturday (4:5 OT).
Neftekhimik is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost its previous couple of matches.
Torpedo’s forward Vladislav Firstov is on an eight-game scoring streak, with 11 (6+5) points over that span.
Torpedo’s forward Evgeny Svechnikov is on a five-game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points.
Injury list
Torpedo: Andrei Belevich, Anton Berlyov, Vyacheslav Voynov.
Neftekhimik: Roman Abrosimov, Vladimir Bryukvin, Zhoe Kristof Muissu.
Milestone alert
Torpedo’s goalie Ivan Bocharov may reach 30 career shutouts.
19:00: Vityaz (8-7-0, 9th W) vs Avtomobilist (9-5-2, 2nd W)
About the game
Vityaz enters the second game of a four-match home series on a three-game winning streak.
Avtomobilist ends a three-game road trip following a loss to SKA on Saturday (2:5).
Vityaz’s forward Dmitry Buchelnikov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points over that span.
Avtomobilist’s forward Brooks Macek is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points.
Avtomobilist’s forward Stephane Da Costa had at least an assist in each of his previous three games, totaling five helpers.
Injury list
Vityaz: Grigory Vashchenko.
Avtomobilist: Daniil Karpovich, Stepan Khripunov, Denis Romantsev, Curtis Valk.
Milestone alert
Vityaz’s goalie Dmitry Shikin may record his 10th KHL shutout.
Avtomobilist’s defenseman Sergei Zborovsky lines up for his 300th league appearance.
19:10: Dinamo Minsk (8-5-1, 7th W) vs Metallurg (8-9-0, 6th E)
About the game
Dinamo Minsk enters the second game of a five-match home series on a two-game winning streak.
Metallurg starts a five-game road trip after a home loss to Ak Bars on Monday (0:5).
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Vadim Shipachyov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points over that span.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Alexander Volkov had at least an assist in each of his previous three games, totaling five helpers.
Injury list
Dinamo Minsk: Pavel Denisov, Roman Gorbunov, Andrei Kareyev.
Metallurg: Artyom Minulin.
Milestone alert
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Vadim Shipachyov lines up for his 1,000st KHL game, tying Evgeny Biryukov’s record for the most KHL appearances. He’s also just one point to Sergei Mozyakin’s all-time record of 928 career points.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Andrei Stas may reach 200 KHL points (currently at 199).
Metallurg’s goalie Ilya Nabokov may record his 10th career shutout.
19:30: SKA (10-5-1, 2nd E) vs CSKA (7-4-5, 4th W)
About the game
SKA ends a four-game home series on a two-match winning streak.
CSKA ends a two-game road trip after two straight defeats.
CSKA’s defenseman Anthony De Angelo is on a five-game scoring streak, with 8 (1+7) points over that span.
CSKA’s forward Evgeny Kuznetsov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (3+1) points.
Injury list
SKA: Artyom Zemchyonok.
