KHL action returns with seven games
A packed seven-game matchday features clashes across the league, with Sibir hosting HC Sochi, Metallurg facing Avtomobilist, Lada welcoming Torpedo, Dinamo Minsk taking on Severstal in Belarus, Neftekhimik hosting SKA, the Shanghai Dragons meeting Lokomotiv in St. Petersburg, and the evening closing with a Moscow derby between Spartak and Dynamo.
The intense matchday starts in Novosibirsk, where Sibir hosts HC Sochi as the teams meet for the second time this season. Earlier, the hosts celebrated a 2:1 win on the Black Sea shores, and today they will try to bounce back after a home loss to Neftekhimik before the All-Star break (2:5). Sibir has now a six-point cushion over Amur as the team occupies the last available postseason spot in the Eastern Conference’s standings. HC Sochi lost their previous three games, to the Shanghai Dragons (2:5), Lokomotiv (0:3), and CSKA (1:3), and will also look to bounce back, although the stakes are much lower for the Black Sea franchise, being in tenth place in the West with over twenty points from the playoff places.
15:30: Sibir (23-27-5, 8th E) vs HC Sochi (15-29-7, 10th W)
About the game
Sibir, who defeated HC Sochi earlier in the season (2:1), enters the fifth game of a seven-match home series following a loss to Neftekhimik on Feb. 04 (2:5).
HC Sochi enters the fifth game of a six-match road trip on a three-game losing streak.
Sibir’s goalie Mikhail Berdin is on a 69:49 shutout streak.
Injury list
Sibir: Mikhail Abramov, Valentin Pyanov, Daniil Valitov.
HC Sochi: Ilya Samsonov, Maxim Tretyak, Denis Vengryzhanovsky.
Milestone alert
Sibir’s forward Pavel Tkachenko lines up for his 100th league appearance.
HC Sochi’s goalie Pavel Khomchenko may line up for his 150th KHL game and may celebrate his 50th victory in the league.
The temperature will be even higher in the Urals, with Metallurg hosting Avtomobilist in Magnitogorsk. The Steelers are once again in a hot streak, with four consecutive victories in games against Amur (4:2), Traktor (3:2), Dinamo Minsk (5:4), and Lada (3:2). Metallurg, who is the only team with Avangard to have already booked its ticket to the Gagarin Cup playoffs, keeps on leading the league with 84 points. Avtomobilist wraps up the Eastern top four and won its last couple of matches, with wins in Vladivostok (4:1) and Omsk (3:2). Today, the Motormen will try to defeat Metallurg for the first time this season. After this game, Avtomobilist will return to Yekaterinburg, where the team will play the next seven matches, including a revenge game against Metallurg on Sunday.
17:00: Metallurg (40-7-4, 1st E) vs Avtomobilist (30-18-4, 4th E)
About the game
Metallurg plays the lone home game of the series and won its previous four matches.
Avtomobilist ends a four-game road trip and won its last couple of matches.
The season series between the two sides is 2 -0 (5:4, 6:5).
Metallurg’s forward Alexander Petunin is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (1+4) points over that stretch.
Avtomobilist’s forward Alexander Sharov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points.
Avtomobilist’s forward Roman Gorbunov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points.
Avtomobilist’s defenseman Jesse Blacker is also on a three-game scoring streak, but with 4 (1+3) points.
Avtomobilist’s forward Daniel Sprong is on a three-game scoring streak, with 6 (3+3) points.
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Dmitry Yudin.
Milestone alert
Avtomobilist’s forward Brooks Macek may reach 300 KHL points (currently at 299).
In Togliatti, Lada will seek a return to victory after five straight losses in a home game against Torpedo. The Togliatti’s Motormen are stuck in last place in the league’s standings at 36 points, with a one-point gap from tenth-placed HC Sochi. The calendar was hard on the Togliatti side, with the last three games against powerhouses such as Lokomotiv (1:3), Metallurg (2:3), and Dinamo Minsk (3:8), with Torpedo coming to town today. The Nizhny Novgorod franchise is now tied with Dinamo Minsk at 69 points, just one less than Severstal, currently in the second place in the West’s table. Torpedo enters today’s game after two wins in the Far East over Admiral (3:2 OT) and Amur (2:1). It will be the sixth meeting between the two Volga teams this season, with Torpedo emerging victorious in four clashes.
18:00: Lada (15-33-6, 11th W) vs Torpedo (32-17-5, 4th W)
About the game
Lada ends a three-game home series on a five-match losing streak.
Torpedo enters the fourth game of a five-match road trip following two consecutive victories.
The season series between the teams is 1-4 (3:4, 1:5, 3:5, 3:2 SO, 0:2).
Milestone alert
Lada’s forward Andrei Obidin and Torpedo’s forward Dmitry Shevchenko may both reach 100 career points (currently at 99).
In Belarus, Dinamo Minsk will try to build on its recent win over Lada to return in consideration for the Western leadership. After an excellent period, the Bison lost four straight games, to Salavat Yulaev (1:2 SO), Sibir (1:4), Metallurg (4:5), and SKA (3:4 SO), before returning to victory in a road game against Lada. However, today’s opposition will be Severstal. The Cherepovets team has been a very hard opponent for Dinamo Minsk, winning four from five games so far in the season series. The Lynx have, however, two straight losses, to Spartak (1:5) and SKA (1:3) – both at home. In the standings, Severstal lost some ground to conference-leading Lokomotiv, 70 points against 75. Dinamo Minsk follows in third place at 69 points, tied with Torpedo.
19:10: Dinamo Minsk (31-15-7, 3rd W) vs Severstal (33-17-4, 2nd W)
About the game
Dinamo Minsk starts a two-game home series following a win over Lada on Feb. 05 (8:3).
Severstal starts a two-game road trip on a two-match losing streak.
The season series between the two sides is 1-4 (4:2, 2:5, 2:4, 3:4, 4:6).
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Vitaly Pinchuk is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points over that stretch.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Stanislav Galiyev is also on a three-game scoring streak, but with 6 (4+2) points.
Injury list
Dinamo Minsk: Joshua Brook, Andrei Stas.
Severstal: Nikolai Chebykin, Daniil Veryayev.
Milestone alert
Dinamo Minsk’s goalie Vasily Demchenko may record his 30th KHL shutout.
Severstal’s forward David Dumbadze may score his 100th league point (currently at 99).
In the last Eastern game of the night, Neftekhimik hosts SKA. The Nizhnekamsk side entered the All-Star break on a positive note, with a win over Sibir (5:2) after two consecutive losses, to Salavat Yulaev (1:2) and Ak Bars (1:6), respectively. With the win over Sibir, the Wolves retained their fifth place in the Eastern Conference’s standings at 59 points, with a one-point advantage over Salavat Yulaev. After losing a record-breaking seven games in a row in January, SKA returned to victory with a 4:3 SO win in Minsk and a 3:1 in Cherepovets, almost guaranteeing itself a ticket to the playoffs with the Shanghai Dragons now being eleven points behind in the West’s table, with one more game played.
19:30: Neftekhimik (28-22-3, 5th E) vs SKA (26-20-6, 8th W)
About the game
Neftekhimik, who defeated SKA earlier in the season (3:2 SO), starts a two-game home series fresh off a win over Sibir on Feb. 04 (5:2).
SKA enters the fifth game of a six-match road trip on a two-game winning streak.
SKA’s forward Mikhail Vorobyov had at least an assist in each of his previous four matches, totaling five helpers.
SKA’s forward Rocco Grimaldi is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points.
Injury list
Neftekhimik: Vladislav Barulin, Raul Yakupov.
SKA: Igor Larionov, Trevor Murphy, Vladislav Romanov, Nikita Zaitsev.
Milestone alert
Neftekhimik plays its 1,100th game in the KHL.
SKA’s defenseman Danila Galenyuk lines up for his 300th league appearance.
In St. Petersburg, the Shanghai Dragons will have one of their last chances to return into playoffs consideration in a home game against Lokomotiv – not the easiest of the opponents. However, the Dragons have two wins in three season games against the Railwaymen, so perhaps they will manage to bring their best game once again and reignite their playoff push. Lokomotiv is in much better shape, with six consecutive wins, two of them in February, over HC Sochi (3:0) and Spartak (3:1), respectively. At 75 points, the Gagarin Cup champs are now leading the Western Conference, managing to create a five-point cushion between them and Severstal.
19:30: Shanghai Dragons (19-25-9, 9th W) vs Lokomotiv (35-14-5, 1st W)
About the game
The Shanghai Dragons enter the fifth game of a seven-match home series on a two-game losing streak.
Lokomotiv starts a three-game road trip on a six-match winning streak.
The season series between the two teams is 2-1 (4:1, 4:3 ОТ, 0:2).
Lokomotiv’s forward Alexander Radulov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (1+5) points over that stretch.
Lokomotiv’s forward Yegor Surin is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points.
Injury list
Shanghai Dragons: Jeremy Groleau, Ben Harpur, Patrik Rybar.
Milestone alert
Shanghai Dragons’ forward Kirill Rasskazov may reach 100 assists in the league (currently at 99).
Lokomotiv’s forward Alexander Radulov may become the third player in the league’s history to reach 800 points, following Vadim Shipachyov and Sergei Mozyakin (currently at 796).
Lokomotiv’s goalie Daniil Isayev may line up for his 250th league appearance.
Lokomotiv’s goalie Alexei Melnichuk may record his 10th KHL shutout.
Closing out an exciting matchday is a Moscow derby between Spartak and Dynamo. Both capital teams will want to bounce back. The hosts lost the last game before the All-Star break with a 1:3 defeat by the hand of Lokomotiv, who also defeated them some ten days before. The Blue-and-Whites are instead on a three-match losing streak, with defeats – all at home – to CSKA (4:2), Severstal (3:2), and Avangard (1:4). The teams are sixth and seventh in the Western Conference’s standings, respectively, at 62 and 60 points. With two wins apiece in the season series, today the teams will battle for supremacy.
19:30: Spartak (28-18-6, 6th W) vs Dynamo Moscow (28-21-4, 7th W)
About the game
Spartak kicks off a three-game home series following a loss to Lokomotiv on Feb. 04 (1:3).
Dynamo Moscow starts a three-game road trip on a three-match losing streak.
The season series between the two teams is 2-2 (0:5, 4:2, 0:1, 5:3).
Spartak’s forward Nikita Korostelyov is on a seven-game scoring streak, with 8 (6+2) points over that streak.
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Maxime Comtois is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Injury list
Spartak: Nikita Buruyanov, Lucas Lockhart.
Dynamo Moscow: Kirill Gotovets, Arytom Mikheyev.
Milestone alert
Dynamo Moscow’s defenseman Artyom Sergeyev may reach 100 league assists (currently at 99).
