Three games in the West on a light KHL Saturday
It’s a three-game Saturday, with all games hosted in the Western Conference. Lokomotiv hosts Dinamo Minsk, Torpedo welcomes Ak Bars, and SKA faces CSKA in a classic matchup.
The matchday starts in Yaroslavl with an exciting matchup between conference leaders Lokomotiv and Dinamo Minsk. It will be the fifth meeting between the sides this season, with the series level at two. The teams faced not long ago, on Feb. 12, with the Belarusians celebrating a 4:2 win on home ice. Lokomotiv bounced back quickly, winning twice in a row in Sochi (2:1 OT) and at home against Neftekhimik (1:0). The Bison, instead, traded wins with Spartak, losing in Moscow (3:4), but taking their revenge in Minsk (6:1). The Railwaymen are still leading the way in the Western Conference, with 81 points, while Dinamo Minsk is third at 75 – just one point less than Severstal.
17:00: Lokomotiv (38-15-5, 1st W) vs Dinamo Minsk (34-16-7, 3rd W)
About the game
Lokomotiv is in the middle of a three-game home series and won its previous two matches.
Dinamo Minsk kicks off a four-game road trip fresh off a win over Spartak on Wednesday (6:1).
The season series between the two teams is (2:3 SO, 3:2 SO, 2:1, 2:4).
Lokomotiv’s goalie Daniil Isayev is on a 60:00 shutout streak.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Sam Anas is on a five-game scoring streak, with 12 (4+8) points over that stretch.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Alex Limoges is also on a five-game scoring streak, but with 9 (2+7) points.
Dinamo Minsk’s defenseman Xavier Ouellet is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
Injury list
Dinamo Minsk: Josh Brook, Andrei Stas.
Milestone alert
Lokomotiv’s forward Alexander Radulov may score his 800th KHL point (currently at 798).
Lokomotiv’s forward Pavel Kraskovsky may reach 200 league points (currently at 198).
Lokomotiv’s goalie Alexei Melnichuk may record his 10th shutout in the KHL.
Lokomotiv plays its 1,200 KHL game.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Vadim Shipachyov may reach 700 assists in the league (currently at 697).
Dinamo Minsk’s goalie Vasily Demchenko may record his 30th KHL shutout.
In the meantime, in Nizhny Novgorod, Torpedo hosts Ak Bars. It will be the second meeting between the sides in the current season, with the Kazan side celebrating an extra time win on Feb. 12. After that game, Torpedo suffered another loss, this time to Dynamo Moscow (2:4), but returned to victory three days earlier, again in extra time, in a home game against the Shanghai Dragons. Ak Bars has instead won both its next games, in Omsk (5:2 over Avangard) and Togliatti (4:2 against Lada). Torpedo returned to fourth place in the Western Conference’s standings, while Ak Bars is third in the East, with a five-point gap to Avangard, now in second place. After today’s clash, Ak Bars will return to Kazan for a home game against Lada scheduled for Feb. 25.
17:00: Torpedo (33-19-6, 4th W) vs Ak Bars (37-15-5, 3rd E)
About the game
Torpedo enters the third game of a four-match home series following a win over the Shanghai Dragons on Wednesday (4:3 OT).
Ak Bars, who defeated Torpedo earlier in the season (4:3 OT), wraps up a three-game road trip on a three-match winning streak.
Torpedo’s forward Vasily Atanasov netted a goal in each of his previous three games.
Ak Bars’ forward Dmitrij Jaskin is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points over that stretch.
Injury list
Torpedo: Nikota Rozhkov.
Ak Bars: Stepan Falkovsky.
Milestone alert
Torpedo’s forwards Dmitry Shevchenko and Yegor Vinogradov may both reach 100 career points (currently both at 99).
Ak Bars’ forward Dmitrij Jaskin may score his 200th KHL goal (currently at 199).
Ak Bars’ goalie Timur Bilyalov may record his 40th career shutout.
Closing out an exciting KHL Saturday is an intriguing game between SKA and CSKA in St. Petersburg. It will be the fourth meeting in the current campaign between the two Western sides, with CSKA holding the lead in the season series. Both teams enter today’s game after a loss. SKA lost at home to Severstal (2:3 SO), while CSKA suffered a road defeat in Togliatti (1:2 to Lada). In the Western Conference’s table, SKA is seventh at 65 points, while CSKA is in fifth place with five more points.
17:00: SKA (29-20-7, 7th W) vs CSKA (31-18-8, 5th W)
About the game
SKA enters the third game of a seven-match home series following a loss to Severstal on Wednesday (2:3 SO).
CSKA enters the fifth game of a six-match road trip after a defeat to Lada on Tuesday (1:2).
The season series between the two teams is 1-2 (3:4, 4:1, 2:3 SO).
SKA’s goalie Sergei Ivanov is on a 72:26 shutout streak.
SKA’s forward Sergei Plotnikov is on a six-game scoring streak, with 8 (2+6) points over that stretch.
SKA’s forward Scott Wilson had an assist in each of his previous four matches.
SKA’s forward Nikolai Goldobin is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points.
Injury list
SKA: Igor Larionov, Trevor Murphy, Vladislav Romanov, Nikita Zaitsev.
CSKA: Denis Guryanov, Danila Moiseyev, Vladislav Provolnev.
Milestone alert
SKA’s forward Sergei Plotnikov may score his 250th KHL goal (currently at 249).
CSKA’s forward Sergei Kalinin may net his 100th goal in the league (currently at 99).
