Spartak faces Barys, SKA welcomes Lokomotiv in February’s last day of action
Two games will wrap up another month of regular season action, with Spartak hosting Barys and SKA facing Lokomotiv.
In Moscow, Spartak will try to build on its recent wins in a home game against Barys. The Red-and-Whites had two straight victories, over Salavat Yulaev in Ufa (5:3) and Admiral at home (6:3), respectively. Spartak is currently the eighth seed in the Western Conference’s standings, and has a chance to surpass SKA at 69 points and catch up with Moscow rivals Dynamo at 70 points. However, today Barys comes to town. While it’s true that the Kazakhs are having a disappointing season, the franchise showed throughout the season that they can defeat anyone, and they did win the first meeting between today’s opposition, in Astana (4:3 OT). Barys lost its previous three games, but all of them ended in extra time. However, the Kazakhs remain in tenth place in the Eastern Conference, eleven points from the playoff places.
17:00: Spartak (31-28-11, 8th W) vs Barys (18-31-11, 10th E)
About the game
Spartak is in the middle of a three-game home series and won its previous couple of matches.
Barys, who defeated Spartak earlier in the season (4:3 OT), starts a six-game road trip on a three-match losing streak.
Injury list
Spartak: Brandon Biro, Lucas Lockhart, German Rubtsov.
Barys: Ansar Shaikhmeddenov.
Disqualifications
Spartak’s forward Ivan Morozov serves the third game of a three-match ban.
Milestone alert
Barys’ goalie Nikita Boyarkin may line up for his 100th league appearance.
In the meantime, in St. Petersburg, SKA faces Lokomotiv. Earlier this season, the Yaroslavl side won four of five meetings against the Saint Petersburg club. Heading into the final regular-season game against SKA, the Railwaymen are riding a four-game winning streak, having beaten HC Sochi (2:1 OT), Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (1:0), Dinamo Minsk (5:4 SO), and Dynamo Moscow (3:1). Bob Hartley’s team has not lost since Feb. 12 and sits comfortably atop the Western Conference with 85 points. SKA is seventh, narrowly trailing Dynamo Moscow—the very team to which Igor Larionov’s side lost two days earlier (1:4). That defeat was the hosts’ second in their last five games—can they avoid another slip-up?
17:00: SKA (31-21-7, 7th W) vs Lokomotiv (40-15-5, 1st W)
About the game
SKA enters the sixth game of a seven-match home series following a loss to Dynamo Moscow on Thursday (1:4).
Lokomotiv starts a three-game road trip on a four-match winning streak.
The season series between the two sides is 1-4 (2:4, 1:3, 2:3, 4:3 ОТ, 1:3).
Lokomotiv’s defenseman Nikita Cherepanov had an assist in each of his previous three matches.
Injury list
SKA: Igor Larionov, Trevor Murphy, Nikita Romanov, Nikita Zaitsev.
Milestone alert
SKA’s forward Mikhail Vorobyov may reach 200 KHL points (currently at 198).
Lokomotiv’s goalie Alexei Melnichuk may record his 10th league shutout.
