Three games on tap on a light KHL Saturday
In the Eastern Conference, Metallurg hosts Traktor in another Southern Urals derby, while in the West, Lada hosts Spartak for a revenge match and Torpedo seeks a return to victory in a home game against HC Sochi.
In Magnitogorsk, another edition of the South Urals derby will take place between Metallurg and Traktor. It will be the fifth meeting between the two regional rivals, with Magnitka taking four wins so far in the season, the last on Jan. 27 (3:2). Metallurg and Traktor will face another time, on March 18 in Chelyabinsk. Both sides will enter today’s game looking to bounce back after a recent loss. Metallurg just lost at home to Avtomobilist (1:3), while Traktor failed to score on CSKA (0:1) – both on Friday. Despite the loss, Metallurg remained on the top of the Eastern Conference’s standings at 97 points, while Traktor is in sixth place.
14:30: Metallurg (45-10-7, 1st E) vs Traktor (29-26-7, 6th E)
About the game
Metallurg ends a two-game home series following a loss to Avtomobilist on Friday (1:3).
Traktor enters the third game of a four-match road trip after a loss to CSKA also on Friday (0:1).
The season series between the two sides is 4-0 (4:3, 7:4, 5:4 OT, 3:2).
Injury list
Metallurg: Dmitry Silantyev.
Traktor: Sergei Mylnikov.
Milestone alert
Traktor’s forward Joshua Leivo may score his 200th point in the KHL (currently at 199).
The action then switches to the Western Conference, starting with a revenge match in Togliatti between Lada and Spartak. Yesterday, the Togliatti side suffered its consecutive loss of the season to the Red-and-Whites. Defenceman Joseph Dean recorded five points — a goal and four assists — while forward Pavel Poryadin scored twice. With 72 points, the visitors sit inside the top eight in the Western Conference and have already secured their place in the playoffs. Lada occupy the penultimate spot in the standings, narrowly ahead of HC Sochi, who have three games in hand. Will the visitors be able to repeat their positive result?
16:00: Lada (19-37-7, 10th W) vs Spartak (32-23-6, 7th W)
About the game
Lada is in the middle of a seven-game home series and lost to Spartak yesterday (1:7).
Spartak is in the middle of a three-game road trip following its win over Lada.
The season series between the two teams is 0-3 (4:5, 2:6, 1:7).
Spartak’s forward Daniil Gutik is on a five-game scoring streak, with 9 (5+4) points over that stretch.
Spartak's defenseman Dmitry Vishnevsky is on a four-game scoring streak, with 7 (1+6) points.
Injury list
Lada: Tyler Graovac, Alexei Ozhgikhin.
Spartak: Brandon Biro, Lucas Lockhart.
Milestone alert
Lada’s forwards Tomas Jurco and Andrei Obidin may reach 100 KHL points (currently both at 99).
In Nizhny Novgorod, Torpedo seeks a return to victory after two straight losses in a home game against HC Sochi. Earlier in the current regular season, Torpedo won four of their five head-to-head meetings with Sochi. The teams met very recently, on March 1, and Torpedo will be looking for revenge. Sochi travelled to Nizhny Novgorod after a sensational home victory over one of the Eastern Conference leaders, Avangard (3:1). Thanks to that result, Dmitry Mikhailov’s men have reduced the gap to Lada, who sit second from bottom in the Western Conference, to the minimum, while also holding three games in hand. After their defeat on the Black Sea coast, Torpedo followed it up with an equally disappointing performance at home against Traktor (0:5). One goal in two games is clearly not the kind of output expected from the fifth-ranked team in the West. Can Alexei Isakov’s men turn the situation around?
17:00: Torpedo (35-22-6, 5th W) vs HC Sochi (18-35-8, 11th W)
About the game
Torpedo ends a two-game home series on a two-match losing streak.
HC Sochi starts a two-game road trip fresh off a win over Avangard on Friday (3:1).
The season series between the two sides is 4-1 (3:0, 3:1, 5:3, 4:1, 1:5).
Injury list
HC Sochi: Jean-Christophe Beaudin, Noel Hoefenmayer, Cameron Lee, Denis Vengryzhanovsky.
Milestone alert
Torpedo’s forwards Alexander Shevchenko and Yegor Vinogradov may reach 100 KHL points (currently at 99).
Torpedo’s forward Shane Prince may net his 100th KHL goal (currently at 99).
