Fourth Far East Derby; HC Sochi hosts Metallurg
After yesterday’s slate of games, today it’s a light matchday, with the Far East Derby between Amur and Admiral and HC Sochi facing Metallurg in the West.
It will be the fourth meeting between the two Far East franchises when Amur hosts Admiral. The Sailors won two games from three so far, but the Tigers have the upper hand in the standings, with 32 points against Admiral’s 28. However, the Vladivostok side has three games in hand, but yesterday’s Barys win in Yekaterinburg made things a bit harder for them. During the break, the Sailors dismissed Leonids Tambijevs as the team’s head coach and now the team will be led by one of Tambijevs’ assistants, Ilnur Gizatullin, who is with the team since 2022 except for starting the current campaign within Alexei Kudashov’s staff at Dynamo Moscow. With Gizatullin behind the bench, the Sailors will be seeking a return to victory after four straight losses. In its last outing before the break, Amur defeated SKA, snapping a six-game skid.
12:15: Amur (13-16-6, 7th E) vs Admiral (11-15-6, 10th E)
About the game
Amur plays the lone home game of the series following a win over SKA on Dec. 07 (4:3 SO).
Admiral starts a four-game road trip on a four-match losing streak.
The season series between the two teams is 1-2 (3:2, 2:5, 1:4).
Injury list
Amur: Roman Abrosimov.
Admiral: Alexander Daryin, Maxim Maltsev, Ruslan Pedan.
Milestone alert
Amur’s forward Artyom Shvaryov lines up for his 100th league appearance.
The action moves then to the Black Sea shores, with HC Sochi taking on Metallurg. It will be the first meeting between the teams this season, with the Magnitogorsk side sitting confidently atop the Eastern Conference on 53 points. Ahead of the break, the Steelers suffered a 1:2 loss to Neftekhimik, though it did nothing to dent their position in the standings. After the game in Sochi, Andrei Razin’s team will wrap up the road trip with a Ural derby against Traktor. The hosts remain bottom of the Western Conference with 23 points. They have temporarily drawn level with Lada on points, but the gap to the playoff zone is significant, and Dmitry Mikhailov’s side can only revive their campaign with a prolonged winning streak. During the break, HC Sochi completed a trade with Lada, sending the club’s all-time leading scorer, forward Artur Tyanulin, the other way in exchange for forward Danil Bashkirov. Will the move pay off?
19:30: HC Sochi (9-18-5, 11th W) vs Metallurg (25-6-3, 1st E)
About the game
HC Sochi plays the lone home game of the series, following a loss to Avangard on Dec. 04 (2:5).
Metallurg enters the third game of a four-match road trip following a loss to Neftekhimik on Dec. 05 (1:2).
HC Sochi’s forward Max Ellis had at least an assist in each of his previous three matches, totaling five helpers.
Metalllurg’s forwards Roman Kantserov and Dmitry Silantyev are on a three-game scoring streak, with 6 (3+3) points over that stretch.
Injury list
HC Sochi: Rafael Bikmullin, Noel Hoefenmayer, Denis Vengryzhanovsky.
Metallurg: Alexander Siryatsky.
Milestone alert
HC Sochi’s goalie Pavel Khomchenko may record his 10th KHL shutout.
