KHL press office
exclusive for khl.ru
Metallurg faces Admiral again as Razin is sidelined; four games on tap today
Sibir and Salavat Yulaev meet again in Novosibirsk, while Metallurg hosts Admiral just two days after their previous clash, with Vladimir Vorobyov taking over from Andrei Razin on an interim basis. Dynamo Moscow and the Shanghai Dragons, as well as HC Sochi and Spartak, complete Wednesday’s slate.
The matchday starts in Novosibirsk with a showdown between Sibir and Salavat Yulaev. It will be the second meeting between the two sides in the current season, with Sibir celebrating a win in Ufa less than a week ago. After that game, the Novosibirsk side went on losing in Nizhnekamsk on Sunday (2-3), while Salavat Yulaev also lost, in Moscow, to CSKA (1-3). However, the Ufa team is currently the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference’s standings, while Sibir is on the bottom of the table. Both teams will be trying to return to victory after recent setbacks, and this should do for an exciting battle in Novosibirsk.
In Magnitogorsk, Metallurg hosts Admiral as the teams meet again after Monday’s win by the Sailors. Yesterday, Magnitka temporarily suspended head coach Andrei Razin from managing the team, and his assistant Vladimir Vorobyov, a four-time Russian champion and former Dynamo Moscow and Amur’s ruler, will lead the team for now. The team enters today’s showdown at the top of the Eastern Conference’s standings despite the recent loss to Admiral, who is instead fighting to stay in the playoff places. The Sailors have now two wins in the last three matches, with a victory in Cherepovets (4-3 SO), and they gained points also in their visit to St. Petersburg (5-6 SO). Will Razin’s exclusion be enough for Metallurg to return to victory after the disappointing home game against Admiral?
The action then moves to the Western Conference for two matches. In Moscow, Dynamo hosts the Shanghai Dragons. The struggling Blue-and-Whites have now four straight losses, with defeats coming in games against Salavat Yulaev (1-3), Traktor (1-2 OT), Torpedo (1-3), and CSKA (3-4 SO), despite a hat-trick from Maxim Letunov. After this setback, Dynamo found itself outside of the playoff places, but the tight Western Conference’s standings may change quickly. The Shanghai Dragons are much higher in the table, and bounced back quickly from a 1-2 OT loss to Severstal, defeating Lada 5-0 in St. Petersburg as Colby Williams had his debut with his new team. The Dragons are currently the fifth seed in the West, and considering their recent streak, they have the potential to climb even higher.
A showdown between HC Sochi and Spartak closes an interesting KHL Wednesday. Both teams struggled recently. After a narrow, extra-time defeat to Barys on Sunday (3-4 SO), the Muscovites have now five straight losses and slipped down to seventh place in the Western Conference’s standings. HC Sochi has lost again on Saturday, to Torpedo, and even Nikita Gusev’s debut couldn’t avoid a heavy defeat to the Black Sea franchise (0-6). However, the season is still young, and things can improve. Just one week ago, Sochi defeated Salavat Yulaev on home ice (6-3), and they will be willing to repeat the trick against a struggling visiting team.
15:30: Sibir (3-7-2, 11th E) vs Salavat Yulaev (6-5-1, 6th E)
About the game
Sibir, who defeated Salavat Yulaev earlier in the season (4-2), plays the lone home game of the series following a loss to Neftekhimik on Sunday (2-3).
Salavat Yulaev is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost its previous three matches.
Injury list
Sibir: Fyodor Gordeyev, Maxim Osipov.
Salavat Yulaev: Artyom Gorshkov, Gleb Kuzmin.
17:00: Metallurg (9-3-1, 1st E) vs Admiral (4-5-3, 8th E)
About the game
Metallurg is in the middle of a three-game home series and lost to Admiral on Monday (2-5).
Admiral wraps up a four-game road trip and most recently won in Magnitogorsk.
Admiral’s forward Kyle Olson is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points over that stretch.
Admiral’s forward Vladislav Tsitsyura is also on a three-game scoring streak, but with 3 (2+1) points.
Injury list
Admiral: Ivan Kulbakov, Artyom Pimenov, Daniel Usmanov.
19:30: Dynamo Moscow (5-6-2, 9th W) vs Shanghai Dragons (7-2-1, 5th W)
About the game
Dynamo Moscow starts a three-game home series on a four-match losing streak.
The Shanghai Dragons wrap up a three-game road trip and defeated Lada on Monday (5-0).
Shanghai Dragons’ goalie Amir Miftakhov is on a 70:43 shutout streak.
Shanghai Dragos’ forward Riley Sutter is on a six-game scoring streak, with 10 (5+5) points over that stretch.
Injury list
Dynamo Moscow: Yegor Rimashevsky, Nikita Tertyshny.
Shanghai Dragons: Martin Frk.
19:30: HC Sochi (2-9-0, 11th W) vs Spartak (5-5-2, 7th W)
About the game
HC Sochi enters the third game of a four-match home series following a loss to Torpedo on Monday (0-6).
Spartak starts a four-game road trip on a five-match losing streak.
Injury list
HC Sochi: Cam Lee, Kirill Slepets, Kirill Voronin.
Spartak: Alexander Bryntsev, Demid Mansurov.
