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Orekhovsky leads Dynamo at SKA on a three-game KHL Wednesday
SKA and Dynamo Moscow, level on 25 points in the tight race for the Western Conference playoff places, headline Wednesday’s three-game KHL schedule in St. Petersburg, where Oleg Orekhovsky leads the Blue-and-Whites after the club relieved Leonids Tambijevs of his duties. In Moscow, CSKA hosts Torpedo with first place in the First Teams’ Cup at stake, while HC Sochi welcomes Lada in a meeting of the conference’s bottom two, separated by a single point.
The central game of the day is in St. Petersburg, where SKA and Dynamo Moscow meet level on 25 points, in seventh and eighth place in the Western Conference, although SKA has played three games fewer. Dynamo will not have Leonids Tambijevs behind the bench: the club temporarily relieved its head coach of his duties on Monday, and Oleg Orekhovsky, who works with the team’s defensemen, takes charge as acting head coach. The Blue-and-Whites had won three straight before Saturday’s 3–4 loss in Nizhny Novgorod, their third defeat to Torpedo this season. SKA, led by Andrei Razin since Oct. 18, has won its last two games. On Friday it came back from 0–2 down at Amur to win 3–2, with American forward Rocco Grimaldi scoring the winner in the third period, and on Monday it beat Spartak 7–1 after scoring five times in the first period. The teams split their first two meetings, 5–3 for SKA at home on Sept. 7 and 4–3 in overtime for Dynamo in Moscow on Oct. 11.
In Moscow, CSKA and Torpedo face off in a First Teams’ Cup game between the competition’s top two, with CSKA on 12 points and Torpedo one behind. The Muscovites also lead the Western Conference with 37 points, two more than Lokomotiv, and have taken points from six games in a row. That run includes a 7–3 win at Metallurg, the Eastern Conference leader, a 1–2 overtime loss at Avangard last Thursday, and a 4–1 home win over Sibir on Monday. Torpedo, third with 31 points, comes to the capital after a 2–5 defeat at Ak Bars on Monday and is still looking for its first points against CSKA this season. The Muscovites won 3–0 at home on Sept. 9 and 3–2 in Nizhny Novgorod nine days later, so Torpedo has scored two goals in two meetings. A regulation win would take Torpedo past CSKA at the top of the First Teams’ Cup, while any CSKA victory would keep the Muscovites in front.
On the Black Sea coast, HC Sochi hosts Lada in a duel between the last two teams in the West, with 16 and 15 points. HC Sochi has yet to lose a game that went past regulation, winning all three, two of them in the last ten days: 2–1 in overtime over Avangard on Nov. 1 and 3–2 in overtime over Dinamo Minsk on Sunday. Nikita Gusev has recorded points in each of his last eleven games. Lada took two of its five wins this season in the space of five days against Lokomotiv, the reigning Gagarin Cup champion, both by 1–0, in Yaroslavl on Nov. 2 and in a shootout in Togliatti on Friday. The Togliatti side then lost 3–4 at Severstal on Monday, conceding the opening goal 10 seconds into the game. The only earlier meeting this season, in Togliatti on Oct. 25, ended 4–3 for HC Sochi. The teams have each conceded 81 goals, more than any other side in the West, and Lada’s 38 goals scored are the fewest in the conference.
19:30: SKA (12-10-1, 7th W) vs Dynamo Moscow (10-11-5, 8th W) (First Teams’ Cup)
About the game
SKA enters the second game of a four-match home series following two consecutive wins.
Dynamo Moscow enters the fourth game of a six-match road trip following a loss at Torpedo on Saturday (3–4).
The teams traded wins earlier in the season (5–3, 3–4 OT).
SKA’s goalie Artemy Pleshkov is on a 75:25 shutout streak.
Injury list
SKA: Zakhar Bardakov, Linus Weissbach, Valentin Zykov, Igor Larionov, Trevor Murphy.
Dynamo Moscow: Nick Merkley, Yegor Rimashevsky, Nikita Tertyshny.
Milestone alert
SKA’s goalie Artemy Pleshkov may line up for his 100th KHL game.
19:30: CSKA (18-5-1, 1st W) vs Torpedo (14-6-3, 3rd W) (First Teams’ Cup)
About the game
CSKA, who defeated Torpedo twice earlier in the season (3–0, 3–2), enters the second game of a four-match home series following a win over Sibir on Monday (4–1).
Torpedo ends a two-match road trip following a loss at Ak Bars on Monday (2–5).
CSKA’s forward Marat Khairullin is on a five-game scoring streak, with 6 (3+3) points over that stretch.
Torpedo’s forward Daniil Seroukh had at least one assist in each of his previous three games, totaling four helpers.
Injury list
Torpedo: Mikhail Vorobyov.
Milestone alert
CSKA’s forward Pavel Karnaukhov may record his 100th KHL assist (currently at 99).
19:30: HC Sochi (8-16-0, 10th W) vs Lada (5-15-5, 11th W)
About the game
HC Sochi, who defeated Lada earlier in the season (4–3), enters the fifth game of a six-match home series following a win over Dinamo Minsk on Sunday (3–2 OT).
Lada enters the second game of a three-match road trip following a loss at Severstal on Monday (3–4).
HC Sochi’s forward Nikita Gusev is on an eleven-game scoring streak, with 14 (2+12) points over that span.
Injury list
HC Sochi: Pavel Akolzin, Pyotr Andreyanov, Artyom Guryev, Cameron Lee, Kirill Slepets, Pyotr Khokhryakov.
Lada: Artyom Volkov, Artyom Karpov, Doyle Somerby.
Milestone alert
HC Sochi’s defenseman Viktor Baldayev lines up for his 400th league appearance.
