Three games under the spotlight today
Three games headline a light, all-Western matchday, opening in St. Petersburg, with the Shanghai Dragons hosting Amur, as both sides look to steady their playoff push after uneven recent form. The action then shifts to the Black Sea, where HC Sochi face Dynamo Moscow in a revenge clash following Monday’s shutout and with the hosts riding their longest winning streak of the season. The day wraps up with a second game in St. Petersburg, where SKA welcome struggling Lada, aiming to extend the visitors’ losing run.
The light, all-Western matchday starts with a showdown between the Shanghai Dragons and Amur. It’s not the best moment for the Chinese franchise, which collected only five wins in the last sixteen outings. However, one of these victories came in the Dragons’ last match, over Lada, with Spencer Foo netting his second straight double for a fantastic start of 2026. The victory gave the Dragons a breath of fresh hair, but the gap with the playoff line is significant. Today, they will try to tighten the gap with Amur coming to town. The Tigers lost their last couple of games, to Sibir (2:3 OT) and Admiral (2:3), respectively, and their cushion over Sibir just reduced to one point after yesterday’s game in Novosibirsk. However, earlier in the season, Amur collected a win over the Shanghai Dragons, proving that anything can happen.
14:00: Shanghai Dragons (16-16-9, 9th W) vs Amur (16-19-7, 8th E)
About the game
The Shanghai Dragons wrap up an eight-game home series following a win over Lada on Monday (3:2).
Amur, who defeated the Shanghai Dragons earlier in the season (5:4), is in the middle of a three-game home series and lost its previous couple of matches.
Shanghai Dragons’ forward Troy Josephs had at least an assist in each of his previous three matches, totaling four helpers.
Amur’s forward Kirill Slepets is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points over that stretch.
Amur’s forward Artur Gizdatullin is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points.
Injury list
Shanghai Dragons: Parker Foo, Jeremy Groleau, Ben Harpur.
Amur: Roman Abrosimov, Alex Galchenyuk, Kirill Petkov.
Milestone alert
Shanghai Dragons’ forward Kirill Rasskazov may dish out his 100th league assist (currently at 99).
Amur’s forward Oleg Li may record his 200th KHL point (currently at 199).
Then, on the Black Sea shores, HC Sochi and Dynamo Moscow will play a revenge game after the hosts shut out the Blue-and-Whites on Monday (2:0). It was HC Sochi’s third straight win, after defeating Neftekhimik (2:1) and SKA (8:4) – the team’s longest streak in the current campaign. Moreover, HC Sochi has already defeated today’s opponents earlier in the season. Dynamo Moscow heads into the game in opposite form, having lost its previous three matches. Other than the defeat in Sochi, the Blue-and-Whites also lost to CSKA (1:5) and Dinamo Minsk (3:5). Dynamo Moscow slipped down to fifth place in the Western Conference, tied with Torpedo at 52 points, while HC Sochi follows in the tenth spot with a twenty-point gap. After today’s game, the Blue-and-Whites will fly back to Moscow, where the team will play the next four matches.
14:00: HC Sochi (13-20-6, 10th W) vs Dynamo Moscow (25-15-2, 5th W)
About the game
HC Sochi enters the fourth game of a five-match home series following three straight wins.
Dynamo Moscow wraps up a seven-game road trip on a three-match losing streak.
The season series between the two sides is 2-0 (3:2 SO, 2:0).
HC Sochi’s goalie Pavel Khomchenko is on a 118:31 shutout streak.
Injury list
HC Sochi: Daniil Seroukh.
Dynamo Moscow: Kirill Gotovets, Artyom Mikheyev.
Milestone alert
HC Sochi’s forward Timur Khafizov lines up for his 300th league appearance.
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Artyom Shvets-Rogovoi reaches 400 KHL matches.
Then, in the second St. Petersburg game of the day, SKA hosts Lada. Earlier this season, the hosts claimed convincing wins in both head-to-head meetings with Lada. The Togliatti side is currently on a six-game losing streak. The game in St. Petersburg will be the visitors’ penultimate outing of the current road trip; earlier, Pavel Desyatkov’s team fell to the Shanghai Dragons in the Northern Capital (2:3). Lada sit bottom of the Western Conference, six points behind HC Sochi. SKA, meanwhile, are in the playoff zone with a six-point cushion. Igor Larionov’s team will take the ice for the first time in 2026, having last played on Dec. 30, when they defeated the Shanghai Dragons 3:2. Will the hosts be able to extend Lada’s run of defeats?
17:00: SKA (21-13-5, 8th W) vs Lada (11-27-4, 11th W)
About the game
SKA plays the lone home game of the series and defeated the Shanghai Dragons on Dec. 30 (3:2).
Lada enters the fifth game of a six-match road trip on a six-game losing streak.
The season series between the two sides is 2-0 (6:1, 3:0).
SKA’s forward Rocco Grimaldi is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points over that stretch.
SKA’s forward Sergei Plotnikov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points.
SKA’s forward Brendan Lepsic is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Injury list
SKA: Matvei Korotky, Trevor Murphy, Vladislav Romanov, Nikita Zaitsev.
