Salavat Yulaev hosts Torpedo, Neftekhimik faces HC Sochi

Only two games are on tap today, with two teams from each conference hitting the ice.

In Ufa, Salavat Yulaev takes on Torpedo. The Bashkortostan franchise had three wins in its last five games, including a 3:2 SO victory over HC Sochi in its most recent match for a nice start of a new home series. Salavat Yulaev is currently the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference—before the start of the season, the boards were certainly seeking something better. On the other end of the ice, Torpedo had points in its last five games, with a win in Nizhnekamsk in its most recent encounter. Earlier, Igor Larionov’s young guns had a loss to Dynamo Moscow (2:3 SO), another win against Neftekhimik (5:4 OT), a loss to Traktor (4:5 OT), and a victory in Magnitogorsk (5:4). It’s the first time that the two sides meet this season, and Torpedo will return home after this contest.

Then, the Wolves face HC Sochi. Neftekhimik had a good start of the season, but have now lost five games in a row, twice against Torpedo (1:3, 4:5 OT), to Dinamo Minsk (1:4), SKA (2:3 OT), and Sibir (1:2). After these losses, the Wolves slipped down to sixth place in the Eastern Conference’s standings, with Salavat Yulaev possibly overtaking them in case of a win over Torpedo. HC Sochi seems to be in better shape. Despite a loss to Salavat Yulaev on Tuesday, they still got a point, and they also built on their win in Moscow over CSKA on Sunday (4:3 SO), following a 4:0 blanking of Kunlun Red Star. After today’s game, the Sochi side will fly back to the Black Sea shores to start a new series on home ice.

17:00: Salavat Yulaev (9-6-0, 8^th E) vs Torpedo (10-5-3, 4^th W)

About the game

Salavat Yulaev enters the second game of a five-match home series following a win over HC Sochi on Tuesday (3:2 SO).

Torpedo ends a two-game road trip after defeating Neftekhimik also on Tuesday (3:1).

Salavat Yulaev’s forward Nathan Todd is on a five-game scoring streak, with 7 (3+4) points over that span.

Torpedo’s forward Dmitry Kagarlitsky is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points.

Injury list

Salavat Yulaev: Gleb Kuzmin.

Torpedo: Andrei Belevich, Anton Berlyov, Vyacheslav Voynov.

Milestone alert

Torpedo’s goalie Ivan Kulbakov may celebrate his 50^th KHL career.

Torpedo’s goalie Ivan Bocharov may record his 30^th career shutout.

Torpedo’s forward Igor Larionov lines up for his 100^th league appearance.

19:30: Neftekhimik (7-7-5, 6^th E) vs HC Sochi (7-9-2, 10^th W)
About the game

Neftekhimik enters the second game of a four-match home series on a five-game losing streak.

HC Sochi ends a four-game road trip after losing to Salavat Yulaev on Tuesday (2:3 SO).

HC Sochi’s forward Artur Tyanulin is on a ten-game scoring streak, with 14 (4+10) points over that span.

HC Sochi’s forward Denis Vengryzhanovsky is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.

Injury list

Neftekhimik: Roman Abrosimov, Vladimir Bryukvin, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Alexander Dergachyov.