Game seven between Salavat Yulaev and Sibir!
The Eastern Conference feels the excitement of a seventh game again after yesterday’s decider between Avtomobilist and Ak Bars. Today’s game will wrap up the Gagarin Cup playoffs’ first round as the elimination stage shifts to the second round, where the teams will be able to challenge opponents from the other Conference as well, just like it was last year. However, Metallurg won’t be able to defend its title after losing to Avangard.
17:00: Salavat Yulaev vs Sibir
Series stand
3-3 (7:0, 8:2, 0:2, 1:2, 5:2, 2:5).
About the game
This fascinating series is going the full distance, with Sibir recovering from allowing the first goal to win game six 5:2 and tie the series. However, Vadim Yepanchintsev’s men will have to break the trend of home victories if it is to advance to the next round as the teams moved to Ufa for today’s decisive showdown. After such a fast start to the series, with Salavat Yulaev plundering 15 goals in the first two matches, not many would have predicted a winner-takes-all finale. A double by Ivan Klimovich propelled Sibir up as the home side claimed a win again. Captain Sergei Shirokov returned to the lineup and collected an assist. Today will be a real battle in Novosibirsk, with Salavat Yulaev trying to break the first-round curse after two consecutive early exits, and Sibir looking to punch above its weight with a road win.
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Sheldon Rempal is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (4+1) points over that stretch.
Sibir’s forward Taylor Beck is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points over that span.
Sibir’s forward Andy Andreoff is equally on a four-game scoring streak, but with 4 (2+2) points.
Sibir’s defenseman Trevor Murphy is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Gleb Kuzmin, Nathan Todd.
Sibir: Georgy Belousov, Vladimir Butuzov, Fyodor Gordeyev, Anton Krasotkin.
Milestone alert
Sibir’s head coach Vadim Yepanchintsev may celebrate his 100th KHL win.
