Two games in the Far East today
Today’s match day will see two early games, with Admiral hosting Lokomotiv and Amur welcoming SKA.
In Vladivostok, the Sailors will try once again to return to winning games after three straight losses. Following defeats to Dinamo Minsk (1:4) and HC Sochi (2:4), Admiral also fell to SKA on Thursday, despite Kyle Olson’s eleventh tally of the season. However, the Sailors failed to score on the opposition at even strength, and 30 saves by Dmitry Shugayev weren’t enough. Also taking into consideration Barys’ win yesterday, the Sailors are out of the playoff places for now, but the standings are tight. The Gagarin Champs just returned to winning games with a 3:0 blanking of Amur on Thursday – the Railwaymen had three straight defeats before the clash in Khabarovsk and slipped down to third place in the Western Conference’s table.
10:00: Admiral (11-14-6, 10th E) vs Lokomotiv (21-10-4, 3rd W)
About the game
Admiral ends a five-game home series on a three-match losing streak.
Lokomotiv ends a two-game road trip following a win over Amur on Thursday (3:0).
Lokomotiv’s goalie Daniil Isayev is on a 59:38 shutout streak.
Injury list
Admiral: Alexander Daryin, Ruslan Pedan.
Lokomotiv: Andrei Sergeyev, Daniil Tesanov.
Milestone alert
Admiral’s defenseman Artyom Kudashov lines up for his 100th league appearance.
Lokomotiv’s forward Alexander Radulov may score his 500th KHL assist.
Lokomotiv’s goalie Daniil Isayev may reach 30 career shutouts, while Alexei Melnichuk may reach 10.
In the second game of the day, Amur hosts SKA. The Tigers will be trying to return to victory after an unpleasant streak of five consecutive defeats, while SKA will try to keep on building on its good form, with four wins in the last five matches, defeating Lokomotiv (4:3 OT) and Admiral (3:1) after a loss to Ak Bars in November’s last game. However, it’s likely that the St. Petersburg franchise will lose top defenseman Trevor Murphy for a while. As for the standings, both teams are fighting for a spot in the playoff places in the relative conference. Tomorrow, the teams will meet again in Khabarovsk after agreeing to reschedule the game due to arena unavailability in St. Petersburg, with SKA remaining the nominal home team.
10:00: Amur (12-16-5, 8th E) vs SKA (16-11-4, 7th W)
About the game
Amur ends a four-game home series on a five-match losing streak.
SKA ends a six-game road trip on a two-match winning streak.
SKA’s forward Joseph Blandisi is on a six-game scoring streak, with 8 (1+7) points over that stretch.
SKA’s forward Brendan Leipsic is on a five-game scoring streak, also with 8 (7+1) points.
Injury list
Amur: Roman Abrosimov.
SKA: Matvei Korotky, Vladislav Romanov, Nikita Zaitsev.
Milestone alert
Amur’s head coach Alexei Andriyevsky celebrates his 400th game in the KHL.
SKA’s forward Andrei Loktionov may dish out his 200th league assist.
