Three games across both Conferences in January’s last matchday
Another regular-season month ends, with Avangard facing Barys, Lada hosting Ak Bars, and Kunlun Red Star seeking precious points in a home confrontation with HC Sochi.
The first game sees Avangard hosting Barys. The Kazakhs finally returned to victory after a long losing streak as they defeated Sibir on home ice on Jan. 26 with a hat-trick from forward Nikita Setdikov, including tying the game with fewer than thirty seconds to go in the third period and the game-winner in extra time. However, Barys remained at the bottom of the Eastern Conference’s standings. Avangard is currently the sixth seed, despite a loss to Salavat Yulaev on Wednesday (2:4). This will be the last game in the series for the Hawks, who will start a long road trip on Feb. 2 that will see them flying to Minsk, Moscow, Togliatti, Vladivostok, and Khabarovsk, before returning home for a Feb. 16 game against Ak Bars. Both teams will have to deal with a long list of players sitting on IL, especially the hosts.
Then, in Togliatti, Lada welcomes Ak Bars. The hosts are on a four-game losing streak and will try to return to victory as they just returned home. However, Ak Bars has already defeated Lada twice this season and will be seeking a fourth victory. In its last outing, the Kazan team collected a win over Salavat Yulaev in the Green Derby (4:3 OT), with d-man Stepan Falkovsky scoring his first goal for Ak Bars after joining the squad from SKA. Lada is now the tenth seed in the East and will need a win to overtake Neftekhimik in ninth place and close the gap from the eighth place. Ak Bars will try to cement its place in the Conference’s top four.
The action then moves to the Western Conference for the last game of the matchday, with Kunlun Red Star hosting HC Sochi. The Dragons showed to really want to advance to the postseason and are again on a winning streak, with two consecutive victories, against Vityaz (2:1) and Traktor (4:3 OT), respectively. The Dragons are still in ninth place in the West’s table but cut their gap to eighth-place Torpedo to only six points. HC Sochi is in last place in the Conference’s standings and lost its previous four matches as the team start a short road trip today. However, the Black Sea team defeated the Dragons twice this season, against one Kunlun Red Star victory.
16:30: Avangard (25-21-3, 6th E) vs Barys (11-33-6, 12th E)
About the game
Avangard ends a three-game home series following a loss to Salavat Yulaev on Wednesday (2:4).
Barys starts a three-game road trip and defeated Sibir on Sunday (4:3 OT).
The season series between the two teams is (4:0, 0:1, 3:2 OT).
Avangard’s forward Ilya Kablukov had at least one assist in each of his previous three games, totaling four helpers.
Injury list
Avangard: Sergei Boikov, Alex Grant, Michael McLeod, Nikolai Prokhorkin, Alexei Solovyov, Vladimir Tkachyov.
Barys: Alikhan Asetov, Anton Burdasov, Maxim Mukhametov.
18:00: Lada (18-23-6, 10th E) vs Ak Bars (31-15-2, 4th E)
About the game
Lada starts a four-game home series on a four-match losing streak.
Ak Bars starts a three-game road trip after a win over Salavat Yulaev on Monday (4:3 OT).
The season series between the two teams is 0-2 (3:4, 1:3).
Injury list
Lada: Vladislav Chervonenko, Nikolai Demidov, Mikhail Fisenko, Pavel Koltygin.
Ak Bars: Yegor Babenko, Mitchel Miller.
Milestone alert
Ak Bars’ forward Semyon Koshelev may net his 100th KHL goal (currently at 99).
Ak Bars’ forward Kirill Semyonov may reach 200 assists in the league (currently at 199).
19:30: Kunlun Red Star (22-23-4, 9th W) vs HC Sochi (14-30-5, 11th W)
About the game
Kunlun Red Star enters the second game of an eight-game home series on a two-match winning streak.
HC Sochi starts a three-game road trip on a four-match losing streak.
The season series between the two teams is 1-2 (0:4, 5:6 OT, 5:3).
Injury list
Kunlun Red Star: Jack Chelios, Parker Foo, Tomas Jurco, Semyon Sinyatkin.
