Seven games set the stage for the final push
A seven-game KHL matchday opens in Novosibirsk with Sibir hosting SKA as the regular season nears its conclusion. Salavat Yulaev faces in-form Neftekhimik, while Traktor and Metallurg renew the Southern Urals derby. Action then shifts west with HC Sochi welcoming Ak Bars and a Moscow doubleheader featuring Spartak against CSKA and Dynamo taking on Admiral. The evening closes in China, where the struggling Shanghai Dragons host Avtomobilist. Several teams still have positioning to play for before the playoffs.
The tense matchday starts in Novosibirsk with Sibir hosting SKA. The two sides first met on Oct. 29 in St. Petersburg, with SKA claiming a 3:2 win. Both sides are at their penultimate game in the current regular season. Sibir gets to today’s game following a win over CSKA, while SKA travels to Novosibirsk from Chelyabinsk, where Igor Larionov’s squad suffered a 1:2 loss to Traktor. Sibir has no chances to rise in the standings, while SKA can still fight for an ending in the Western Conference’s top four, although the opposition has to lose their next games. At this point, a qualification in the top four is unlikely for the St. Petersburg franchise.
15:30: Sibir (28-29-9, 8th E) vs SKA (36-23-7, 6th W)
About the game
Sibir enters the third game of a four-match home series following a win over CSKA on Monday (3:2).
SKA, who defeated Sibir earlier in the season (3:2), ends a two-game road trip after a loss to Traktor also on Monday (1:2).
SKA’s forward Rocco Grimaldi is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that stretch.
Injury list
Sibir: Ilya Talaluyev.
SKA: Trevor Murphy, Nikita Zaitsev.
Then, Salavat Yulaev hosts Neftekhimik. The Ufa team managed to reverse the trend on Sunday after three straight losses, earning a comfortable home win over the Shanghai Dragons by a score of 5:3. However, Neftekhimik will enter todays’ game in even better form, with three consecutive wins. After a loss in Vladivostok, the Wolves defeated Admiral in the revenge match (4:3), Traktor (2:1 OT), and Torpedo (6:3). Neftekhimik is currently the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, while Salavat Yulaev is in fifth place. It’s likely that the teams will end the regular season with the same positioning. It will be the sixth meeting between the two teams this season, with Salavat Yulaev holding a comfortable lead in the series.
17:00: Salavat Yulaev (34-26-6, 5th E) vs Neftekhimik (33-30-3, 7th E)
About the game
Salavat Yulaev enters the fourth game of a five-match home series following a win over the Shanghai Dragons on Sunday (5:3).
Neftekhimik is in the middle of a three-game road trip and won its previous three matches.
The season series between the two sides is 4-1 (2:1, 0:1, 3:1, 2:1, 2:1).
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Sheldon Rempal is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points over that stretch.
Neftekhimik’s defenseman Maxim Fedotov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points.
Neftekhimik’s defenseman Artyom Serikov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Alexander Chyorny, Alexander Komarov, Yegor Korbit, Gleb Kuzmin.
Neftekhimik: Vladislav Barulin.
Milestone alert
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Pyotr Khokhryakov may reach 100 KHL assists (currently at 99).
In the meantime, Traktor hosts Metallurg for another Southern Urals derby. Magnitka, who already clinched the Continental Cup for the league’s best record in the regular season, will start its final road trip in the current campaign with a youthful, much‑changed squad now that they have already secured top spot. The teams faced off on March 8, with Metallurg claiming a 3:2 SO win. After that game, Andrei Razin’s men won another three games, over Salavat Yulaev (2:1 OT), Sibir (2:1 OT), and Avtomobilist (4:3). Traktor has instead lost another match, to Neftekhimik (1:2 OT), but then defeated Torpedo (3:2 OT) and SKA (2:1). The Black-and-Whites are currently the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference’s table. In the season series, Metallurg has an outstanding five straight victories over its regional rival.
17:00: Traktor (31-26-9, 6th E) vs Metallurg (49-10-7, 1st E)
About the game
Traktor enters the third game of a four-match home series on a two-game winning streak.
Metallurg starts a two-game road trip on a four-match winning streak.
The season series between the two teams is 0-5 (3:4, 4:7, 4:5 ОТ, 2:3, 2:3 SO).
Traktor’s forward Vitaly Kravtsov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points over that stretch.
Metallurg’s forward Vladimir Tkachyov had an assist in each of his previous three matches.
Metallurg’s forward Alexander Petunin is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
The action then moves to the Western Conference, starting with HC Sochi hosting Ak Bars. The two teams already met two games ago, on March 13, with Ak Bars shutting down HC Sochi 2:0 with goals from Nathan Todd and Dmitrij Jaskin – it was the 200th KHL goal for the latter. After that game, HC Sochi lost again, this time to Amur (2:3), while Ak Bars recorded a loss in Cherepovets (2:4). The Black Sea franchise can surpass Lada in the Western Conference’s standings and avoid the last place, while Ak Bars is the third seed in the East.
17:00: HC Sochi (18-40-8, 11th W) vs Ak Bars (41-17-8, 3rd E)
About the game
HC Sochi ends a two-game home series on a five-match losing streak.
Ak Bars, who defeated HC Sochi earlier in the season (2:0), is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost to Severstal on Monday (2:4).
Ak Bars’ forward Artyom Galimov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points over that stretch.
Injury list
HC Sochi: Max Ellis, Noel Hoefenmayer, Cameron Lee, Ilya Nikolayev, Maxim Tretyak.
Milestone alert
HC Sochi’s defenseman Anton Malyshev may reach 200 league appearances.
Ak Bars’ goalie Timur Bilyalov may record his 40th KHL shutout.
Two games are then scheduled in Moscow, with a capital derby between Spartak and CSKA and Dynamo hosting Admiral. CSKA is currently up 3-2 in the season series against the Red-and-Whites, but Spartak will try to tie things up also to get in a better position in the Western Conference. CSKA returns to the Russian capital after a 3:2 loss in Novosibirsk and will play its last game in the current campaign. The team is currently the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Spartak, who also lost its latest outing, to Dynamo Moscow, rounds out the top eight, and climbing up in the standings will be hard, but a win today against CSKA would be a good first step.
19:30: Spartak (35-24-7, 8th W) vs CSKA (37-22-8, 4th W)
About the game
Spartak enters the third game of a four-match home series following a loss to Dynamo Moscow on Monday (3:4 SO).
CSKA wraps up a four-match road trip following a loss to Sibir also on Monday (2:3).
The season series between the two teams is 2-3 (6:5 SO, 3:2, 1:2, 1:2, 0:2).
Spartak’s goalie Alexander Georgiyev is on a 76:17 shutout streak.
CSKA’s goalie Dmitry Gamzin is on a 74:52 shutout streak.
CSKA’s forward Prokhor Poltapov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that stretch.
CSKA’s forward Maxim Sorkin is also on a three-game scoring streak, but with 5 (1+4) points.
Injury list
Spartak: Brandon Biro.
CSKA: Klim Kostin, Danila Moiseyev, Vladislav Provolnev.
Milestone alert
CSKA’s forward Sergei Kalinin may net his 100th KHL goal (currently at 99).
CSKA can celebrate its 800th win in the KHL.
In the second Moscow game of the day, Dynamo hosts Admiral. The first meeting between the two teams took place on Sept. 20 in Vladivostok, when Dynamo celebrated a 4:3 shootout victory. Heading into the new matchup, the Blue-and-Whites are riding a four-game winning streak with wins over Dinamo Minsk (6:4), the Shanghai Dragons (4:2), Salavat Yulaev (3:2 SO), and Spartak (4:3 SO). By the end of the game day, Vyacheslav Kozlov’s team could secure home ice for the first round of the playoffs. That will happen if they defeat the Sailors and CSKA loses its parallel game; the Blue-and-Whites currently trail CSKA by one point. Admiral sits last in the Eastern Conference, but it has won two straight games with identical 6:2 scores against Barys before traveling to Moscow.
19:30: Dynamo Moscow (38-23-5, 5th W) vs Admiral (19-35-12, 11th E)
About the game
Dynamo Moscow, who defeated Admiral earlier in the season (4:3 SO), starts a two-game home series on a four-match winning streak.
Admiral is in the middle of a three-game road trip and won its previous couple of matches.
Dynamo Moscow’s defenseman Daniil Pylenkov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 7 (2+5) points over that stretch.
Dynamo Moscow’s forward Maxim Mamin is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points.
Admiral’s forward Stepan Starkov is on a six-game scoring streak, with 8 (2+6) points over that span.
Injury list
Dynamo Moscow: Fredrik Claesson, Kirill Gotovets, Artyom Mikheyev.
Admiral: Alexander Daryin, Mario Grman, Vladislav Kara, Ivan Muranov, Semyon Ruchkin.
Milestone alert
Dynamo Moscow’s defenseman Artyom Sergeyev may reach 100 KHL assists (currently at 99).
Dynamo Moscow’s goalie Maxim Motorygin may reach 10 career shutouts.
Closing down a tense KHL matchday is a showdown between the Shanghai Dragons and Avtomobilist. The first meeting between the two teams this season took place on Feb. 22 in Yekaterinburg, where Avtomobilist came out on top, 4:1. At the moment, the Shanghai Dragons—who will finish the regular season in ninth place in the Western Conference—are on a five-game losing streak. Three days earlier they fell on the road to Salavat Yulaev. At the same time, the Ural club faced its geographic rivals from Metallurg and came up short by a single goal. For Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team, that defeat was their second in a row. However, regardless of those results—and the remaining games—the visitors will finish the regular season in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
19.30: Shanghai Dragons (21-33-12, 9th W) vs Avtomobilist (39-23-4, 4th E)
About the game
The Shanghai Dragons play the lone home game of the series on a five-match losing streak.
Avtomobilist, who defeated the Shanghai Dragons earlier in the season (4:1), is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost its previous couple of matches.
Injury list
Shanghai Dragons: Jake Bischoff, Jeremy Groleau, Ben Harpur, Andrei Kareyev, Patrik Rybar.
Milestone alert
Shanghai Dragons’ forward Kirill Rasskazov may reach 100 career assists (currently at 99).
Shanghai Dragons’ goalie Dmitry Shikin and Avtomobilist’s goalie Vladimir Galkin may reach 10 KHL shutouts.
