Full slate of seven games as East and West collide on busy KHL matchday
A packed KHL schedule features seven games across both conferences, with teams chasing momentum and playoff positioning. Traktor and Admiral meet amid long skids, while league leaders Metallurg hosts Amur. Neftekhimik looks to extend its hot streak against Barys, Ak Bars welcome Sibir, and Salavat Yulaev visits Sochi in a West–East clash. The frenzy continues with Torpedo facing SKA and Dinamo Minsk hosting the Shanghai Dragons.
The matchday starts with a showdown between Traktor and Admiral. The hosts are currently on a disappointing seventh place in the Eastern Conference’s standings – they reached the Gagarin Cup finals last year – and they lost the last couple of matches, to Avangard (2:5) at home and Avtomobilist (1:4) on the road. Admiral is in a much deeper hole. Sitting in last place in league’s table, with 34 points, the Sailors lost seven games in a row. Recently, Admiral inked forward Vladislav Kara – he started the season with Sibir, scoring 6 (4+2) points in 31 games. He has more than 300 KHL games under his belt.
14:00: Traktor (21-20-6, 7th E) vs Admiral (13-25-8, 11th E)
About the game
Traktor ends a two-game home series on a two-match losing streak.
Admiral starts a three-game road trip on a seven-match losing streak.
Traktor’s forward Mikhail Grigorenko is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (1+4) points over that stretch.
Admiral’s forward Stepan Starkov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Injury list
Admiral: Alexander Daryin.
Milestone alert
Admiral’s forward Arkady Shestakov lines up for his 400th league appearance.
Then, in Magnitogorsk, Metallurg hosts Amur. Magnitka will try to bounce back after a loss to Sibir – Metallurg saw an eight-game winning streak – worth 45 goals – ended by the Novosibirsk’s side first win since Jan. 13. Despite the loss, Andrei Razin’s men keep a hold grip on the league’s lead with 76 points, eight more than Ak Bars. Earlier in the season, Metallurg defeated the Tigers twice, including a recent showdown last week in Khabarovsk. As the playoff approach, Amur is trying to strengthen its roster trying to conquer at least the eighth place back. The Tigers just completed another two trades. They sent Ignat Korotkikh to Spartak in exchange for Ivan Vorobyov and Grigory Kuzmin, then got veteran defenseman and two-time Gagarin Cup champion Viktor Antipin from Lada in exchange for monetary compensation. Amur lost its last seven matches.
14:30: Metallurg (35-7-4, 1st E) vs Amur (16-24-7, 9th E)
About the game
Metallurg enters the second game of a four-match home series following a loss to Sibir on Thursday (1:2).
Amur starts a two-game road trip on a seven-match losing streak.
The season series between the teams is 2-0 (3:1, 4:3).
Amur’s defenseman Yaroslav Dyblenko is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points over that stretch.
Injury list
Metallurg: Alexander Siryatsky.
Amur: Roman Abrosimov.
Milestone alert
Metallurg’s forward Daniil Vovchenko lines up for his 300th league appearance.
Metallurg’s forward Alexander Petunin may reach 100 KHL goals (currently at 99).
In Nizhnekamsk, Neftekhimik hosts Barys. The Wolves are in a hot streak, with six straight victories. One of these wins was a 1:0 shutout in Astana, on Jan. 15. After that game, Neftekhimik celebrated a win in Novosibirsk (3:1) and a home victory over Dynamo Moscow (2:1 SO). The Wolves are thus fifth in the Eastern Conference’s standings, at just three points from Avtomobilist. After that game in Astana, Barys bounced back with a big home win over CSKA (3:1), but then failed to score on Lada (0:2) and CSKA again (0:1), and will try to return to scoring today as the clock is ticking for a postseason qualification – the Kazakhs are currently in tenth spot in the East, at four points from the playoff line.
17:00: Neftekhimik (26-20-3, 5th E) vs Barys (16-27-7, 10th E)
About the game
Neftekhimik ends a two-game home series on a six-match winning streak.
Barys wraps up a three-game road trip on a two-match losing streak.
The season series between the two sides is 3-0 (3:2, 5:2, 1:0).
Injury list
Neftekhimik: Raul Yakupov.
Barys: Kirill Savitsky.
Another hot team in the East is Ak Bars. The Kazan side won its four previous matches, all in the Far East, over Amur (5:3, 3:0) and Admiral (5:2, 4:1), and is the second seed in the Eastern Conference, overcoming Avangard by one point. Today, Ak Bars hosts Sibir. It will be the second meeting between the two sides this season, with the hosts claiming an early win. Sibir enters into today’s match after a sensational win over Metallurg – a victory that cemented the Novosibirsk side’s placement in the conference’s top eight, and a rebound after two straight losses. Sibir has currently a four-point cushion over Amur.
17:00: Ak Bars (33-14-2, 2nd E) vs Sibir (19-25-5, 8th E)
About the game
Ak Bars, who defeated Sibir earlier in the season (4:1), starts a three-game home series on a four-win streak.
Sibir enters the third game of a four-match road trip following a win over Metallurg on Thursday (2:1).
Ak Bars’ defenseman Mitchell Miller is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points over that streak.
Injury list
Ak Bars: Mikhail Fisenko, Nikita Lyamkin, Albert Yarullin.
Sibir: Ilya Fedotov, Daniil Valitov.
Milestone alert
Ak Bars’ defenseman Alexei Marchenko lines up for his 600th league appearance.
Ak Bars’ goalie Timur Bilyalov may record his 40th KHL shutout.
The action then moves to the Western Conference for three further games. Salavat Yulaev travels to Sochi trying to bounce back after two straight losses, to Avtomobilist (2:6) and Avangard (2:5) – the Ufa team had little chances in both encounters, and the team will want to return to winning games to further improve its positioning in the Eastern Conference’s table. Sochi is also on a two-game losing streak, with defeats coming in games against Lada (0:4) and Severstal (4:5 OT). Yesterday’s Lada win over Dynamo Moscow sent the Black Sea franchise back to the last spot in the West. It will be the third game between the two sides in the current campaign, with the season series currently level at one.
17:00: HC Sochi (14-24-7, 11th W) vs Salavat Yulaev (22-22-4, 6th E)
About the game
HC Sochi is in the middle of a three-game home series and lost its previous couple of matches.
Salavat Yulaev starts a three-game road trip also on a two-match losing streak.
The season series between the two teams is 1-1 (1:3, 2:1).
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Sheldon Rempal is on a thirteen-game scoring streak, with 24 (7+17) points over that stretch.
Injury list
HC Sochi: Matvei Guskov, Daniil Seroukh, Denis Vengryzhanovsky.
Salavat Yulaev: Gleb Kuzmin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dean Stewart, Alexei Vasilevsky.
Milestone alert
Salavat Yulaev’s defenseman Evgeny Kulik may score his 100th career point (currently at 99).
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Pyotr Khokhryakov may dish out his 100th KHL assist (currently at 99).
In Nizhny Novgorod, Torpedo tries to stretch a five-game winning streak in a home game against SKA. It will be the fourth meeting between the two sides this season, with Torpedo sweeping the series so far. The Nizhny Novgorod side is currently the fourth seed in the Western Conference, and has a chance to increase its advantage over Dynamo Moscow as the Blue-and-Whites lost to Lada yesterday. SKA is now in the last playoff place in the Western Conference’s standings, and lost its previous three matches, to HC Sochi (1:2), Dinamo Minsk (3:4), and Spartak (1:2). As the trade deadline approaches, two days ago, SKA received veteran defenseman Pavel Koledov from Admiral in exchange for monetary compensation.
17:00: Torpedo (29-15-4, 4th W) vs SKA (24-17-5, 8th W)
About the game
Torpedo enters the second game of a four-match home series on a five-game winning streak.
SKA plays the lone road game of the series on a three-match losing streak.
The season series between the two sides is 3-0 (3:2 ОТ, 5:2, 3:2 ОТ).
SKA’s forward Mikhail Vorobyov had at least an assist in his last four matches, totaling five helpers.
SKA’s forward Matvei Polyakov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that stretch.
Injury list
Torpedo: Alexei Kruchinin.
SKA: Trevor Murphy, Vladislav Romanov.
Milestone alert
Torpedo’s forward Dmitry Shevchenko may net his 100th KHL goal (currently at 99).
In the last game of a tense match day, Dinamo Minsk faces the Shanghai Dragons. The Chinese franchise has been a particularly awkward opponent for the Bison this season, having won two of their three head-to-head meetings so far. The visitors are currently mired in a five-game losing streak, most recently suffering a heavy road defeat to Torpedo (2:7). The Shanghai Dragons, who recently introduced Mitch Love as the team’s new head coach, remain ten points adrift of the Western Conference playoff zone. Three days earlier, Dinamo Minsk narrowly lost in Yaroslavl to Lokomotiv (1:2) and stayed in third place in the conference, just two points behind the Railwaymen.
17:10: Dinamo Minsk (29-13-5, 3rd W) vs Shanghai Dragons (17-21-9, 9th W)
About the game
Dinamo Minsk starts a two-game home series following a loss to Lokomotiv on Wednesday (1:2).
The Shanghai Dragons are in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost their five previous matches.
The season series between the two sides is 1-2 (2:3, 1:2, 2:1 SO).
Injury list
Dinamo Minsk: Joshua Brook, Xavier Ouellet.
Shanghai Dragons: Jeremy Groleau, Ben Harpur, Troy Josephs, Patrik Rybar.
Milestone alert
Dinamo Minsk’s goalie Vasily Demchenko may record his 30th KHL shutout.
Shanghai Dragons’ forward Ilya Kablukov may reach 200 KHL points (currently at 199).
Shanghai Dragons’ forward Kirill Rasskazov may dish out his 100th career assist (currently at 99).
