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SKA and Spartak renew rivalry on a four-game KHL Monday
A classic rivalry headlines Monday’s four-game KHL schedule, as SKA, chasing a playoff place in the West, hosts Spartak, which has won the last six meetings between the teams. Ak Bars, on a three-game losing streak, welcomes Torpedo in the teams’ third meeting of the season, and Severstal entertains Lada, which has won three of its last four games. Also on the schedule, CSKA faces Sibir.
Kazan opens the matchday with the third meeting of the season between Ak Bars and Torpedo, and the second there in less than three weeks. Ak Bars scored first in both earlier games but lost them. On Sept. 14, Dmitry Katelevsky netted the first KHL goal at Torpedo’s new Volga Arena before the hosts won 3–2, and on Oct. 21 the Kazan side fell 1–2 in a shootout at home. That defeat came during a long home slump for Ak Bars, which has won just one of its last eight games in front of its own fans, 3–1 over Amur on Oct. 30. Last season’s Gagarin Cup finalist has now lost three in a row, to SKA, Sibir, and Traktor, and has dropped from fourth to tenth in the East, one point outside the playoff places, with five teams level on 25 points from fourth to eighth. Torpedo, by contrast, has won its last two games, 3–1 over Spartak on Nov. 1 and 4–3 over Dynamo Moscow on Saturday, a result that lifted it to third in the Western Conference with 31 points. On the same day, the club acquired Russian forward Stepan Starkov, a veteran of 391 games and 159 points in the KHL, from Metallurg in exchange for Vladislav Firstov. Starkov, who had 40 points for Admiral last season but only three in 17 games in Magnitogorsk, may make his Torpedo debut in Kazan.
In Cherepovets, Lada visits Severstal having won three of its last four games, after just two wins in its first twenty. The latest two came against defending champion Lokomotiv, both by 1–0, in Yaroslavl on Nov. 2 and at home on Friday in a shootout, with goalie Andrei Mishurov keeping the Railwaymen off the scoresheet both times. The run has lifted the Togliatti side off the bottom of the West, one point above HC Sochi. Goals have been hard to come by for Lada, which has scored the fewest in the league so far, and the first meeting with Severstal was no exception: a 1–0 home win for the Steelers on Sept. 7, settled by a power-play goal in the ninth minute. Severstal won seven straight games between Oct. 3 and Oct. 19, then managed only one win in its next six, before bouncing back on Thursday with a 4–1 victory in Sochi that keeps the Steelers sixth in the West with 28 points.
In Moscow, CSKA hosts Sibir for the first time this season, and both teams come off overtime defeats in Omsk. Avangard beat CSKA 2–1 on Thursday, 24 seconds into the extra period, ending the Muscovites’ four-game winning streak, which had included a 7–3 win at league leader Metallurg with four goals in the third period. Two days later, the Hawks edged Sibir as well, 4–3, after the Novosibirsk side had erased a 1–3 deficit, tying the game with 24 seconds left in regulation. CSKA lost three of its first four games but has won 16 of 19 since, and its six defeats are the fewest in the league. Igor Nikitin’s team tops the Western Conference with 35 points. Sibir is last in the East with 22 points, yet it has taken points in three of its last four games, including a 5–2 home win over Metallurg on Oct. 29. Its defenseman Darren Dietz needs one more goal to reach 100 in the KHL.
Closing out the matchday is a classic in St. Petersburg, where SKA hosts Spartak in a game that also counts toward the First Teams’ Cup. SKA has won three of its seven games since Andrei Razin took over on Oct. 18, the latest a 3–2 win at Amur on Friday after falling 0–2 behind early. Later that day, Spartak beat Dinamo Minsk 5–3, and the two results lifted SKA into eighth place, the last playoff spot in the West, one point above Dinamo Minsk and with two games in hand. For Spartak, the win ended a two-game losing streak, with Maxime Comtois netting his 50th KHL goal, and the Red-and-Whites are now fourth, level with the Shanghai Dragons on 30 points. Recent history favors the visitors, who have won the last six meetings between the teams. That run includes both of last season’s visits to St. Petersburg, 2–1 each time, and the first meeting of this season, on Sept. 10 in Moscow, when Spartak trailed 0–1 before scoring three times in the third period, handing SKA its first defeat of the season.
19:00: Ak Bars (11-12-2, 10th E) vs Torpedo (14-5-3, 3rd W)
About the game
Ak Bars plays a single home game on a three-match losing streak.
Torpedo, who defeated Ak Bars twice earlier in the season (3–2, 2–1 SO), starts a two-match road trip on a two-game winning streak.
Torpedo’s defenseman Daniil Zhuravlyov had one assist in each of his previous three games.
Injury list
Ak Bars: Artyom Galimov.
Torpedo: Mikhail Vorobyov.
Milestone alert
Ak Bars’ defenseman Nikita Lyamkin may reach 200 KHL points (currently at 198).
Ak Bars’ forward Alexei Byvaltsev may net his 100th career goal (currently at 99).
Torpedo’s defenseman Bobby Nardella lines up for his 100th league appearance.
19:00: Severstal (13-9-2, 6th W) vs Lada (5-14-5, 10th W)
About the game
Severstal, who defeated Lada earlier in the season (1–0), starts a four-game home series following a win at HC Sochi on Thursday (4–1).
Lada starts a three-match road trip following a win over Lokomotiv on Friday (1–0 SO).
Lada’s goalie Andrei Mishurov is on a 65:00 shutout streak.
Injury list
Severstal: Nikolai Burenov, Yegor Graf, Timofei Davydov, Gennady Chalyi.
Lada: Artyom Volkov, Artyom Karpov, Nikita Mikhailov, Doyle Somerby.
Milestone alert
Severstal’s forward Nikita Popugayev may record his 100th KHL point (currently at 99).
19:30: CSKA (17-5-1, 2nd W) vs Sibir (9-12-4, 11th E)
About the game
CSKA starts a four-game home series following a loss at Avangard on Thursday (1–2 OT).
Sibir ends a two-match road trip following a loss at Avangard on Saturday (3–4 OT).
CSKA’s forward Prokhor Poltapov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 6 (1+5) points over that stretch.
CSKA’s forward Marat Khairullin is also on a four-game scoring streak, with 5 (3+2) points.
Injury list
Sibir: Mikhail Abramov, Maxim Osipov, Danil Valitov.
Milestone alert
CSKA’s defenseman Nikita Nesterov may reach 300 KHL points (currently at 299).
CSKA’s forward Pavel Karnaukhov may record his 100th KHL assist (currently at 99).
Sibir’s defenseman Darren Dietz may net his 100th KHL goal (currently at 99).
19:30: SKA (11-10-1, 8th W) vs Spartak (13-7-4, 4th W) (First Teams’ Cup)
About the game
SKA starts a four-game home series following a win at Amur on Friday (3–2).
Spartak, who defeated SKA earlier in the season (3–1), plays a single road game following a win over Dinamo Minsk on Friday (5–3).
SKA’s goalie Artemy Pleshkov is on a 75:25 shutout streak.
Injury list
SKA: Zakhar Bardakov, Igor Larionov, Trevor Murphy, Linus Weissbach, Valentin Zykov.
Spartak: Daniil Orlov, Will Reilly.
Milestone alert
SKA’s goalie Artemy Pleshkov may line up for his 100th league appearance.
