KHL press office
exclusive for khl.ru
Ufa hosts the third Green Derby on a packed KHL Thursday
One point separates third place from 10th in the East, and seven of those eight teams play on Thursday’s five-game KHL schedule. Its centerpiece is the third Green Derby of the season, with Salavat Yulaev hosting Ak Bars level on 26 points. Leader Metallurg welcomes Avangard after a week off, Avtomobilist faces the Shanghai Dragons with Alexei Kudashov one win short of 400, and Barys entertains Admiral on the playoff line. Also on the schedule, Spartak meets Amur.
Metallurg returns to the ice against Avangard after a week without games. Its last outing was an 8–1 win over Neftekhimik on Nov. 5, with five goals in the second period, two days after a 3–7 home loss to CSKA. Magnitka still leads the East with 38 points, seven more than the Wolves, and tops the league with 87 goals. The autumn has been busy behind the bench: Andrei Razin was stood down on Oct. 6 and left the club on Oct. 18, and Konstantin Shafranov was named head coach on Oct. 23. Avangard, sixth with 26 points, comes in after a 0–4 loss at Dinamo Minsk on Tuesday, when Cedric Paquette played his first game of the season. Before that trip, the Hawks had beaten CSKA 2–1 and Sibir 4–3, both in overtime in Omsk, and the win over the Western Conference leader on Nov. 5 was the 100th in the KHL for head coach Guy Boucher. The season series is level: Avangard won the first meeting 3–2 in overtime, and Metallurg answered with a 5–1 victory in Omsk on Sept. 28.
In Yekaterinburg, the Shanghai Dragons visit Avtomobilist, whose head coach Alexei Kudashov can hit the milestone of 400 KHL wins. Kudashov, who previously led Atlant, Lokomotiv, SKA, and Dynamo Moscow, took over the Motormen in the offseason and was soon joined by Alexander Kadeikin, a forward he had already coached at Atlant and Lokomotiv. Captain Anton Slepyshev, who followed Kudashov from Dynamo, remains injured. On Sunday, Avtomobilist won the Ural Derby in Chelyabinsk 3–2 in a shootout that needed 14 attempts, ending a two-game skid. The team is ninth in the East with 25 points, one behind third place. The Dragons are one of three Western teams on 30 points, alongside Spartak and Severstal. Mitch Love’s team had won six of seven before losing 2–3 at home to Dynamo Moscow on Nov. 5 and 2–5 at Traktor on Tuesday, when Czech forward Dmitrij Jaskin scored on the power play. The Dragons won the first meeting 3–2, handing Avtomobilist its third straight loss at the time.
The matchday’s main event is in Ufa, where Salavat Yulaev and Ak Bars plays yet another Green Derby, level on 26 points, in third and fifth place in the East. Ak Bars won both earlier meetings by one goal, 4–3 in overtime and 2–1 in Ufa on Oct. 25, the night Salavat captain Grigory Panin set the KHL record for games by a defenseman with his 1,002nd appearance; he is now injured. The Kazan side ended a three-game skid on Monday with a 5–2 home win over Torpedo that took it from 10th to third in a single evening: brothers Stepan and Semyon Terekhov both scored in the first period, and Alexei Byvaltsev netted his 100th KHL goal. Salavat Yulaev took a point on Tuesday, losing 3–4 in a shootout in Nizhnekamsk, with Sheldon Rempal scoring in regulation and in the shootout. Before that, Viktor Kozlov’s team had won twice at home, with Vadim Shipachyov scoring twice in a 3–2 overtime win over Avtomobilist. Kozlov finished two points behind Ak Bars’ Anvar Gatiyatulin in the vote for last season’s best coach.
Barys is back in Astana after a nine-game road trip that began on Oct. 17 with a 1–0 win at Sibir and ended with three straight defeats: 1–2 at Traktor, 4–5 at Admiral, and 0–2 at Amur. The last two dropped the Kazakhs from third to eighth, the final playoff place, which they hold level on 25 points with Avtomobilist and with today’s visitor, 10th. Admiral has beaten Barys twice this season, both times 5–4 in Vladivostok, in overtime on Oct. 21 and in regulation on Nov. 6, when the Sailors came back from 0–2 down and won it in the third period. Two days before that, goalie Nikita Boyarkin made 39 saves in a 4–0 win over SKA and became the sixth goaltender to record a goal in KHL history. Admiral comes to Kazakhstan after five days without games, its last two outings both wins that followed a 2–5 home loss to Amur on Nov. 1.
Closing out the matchday is Spartak against Amur in Moscow, where a team that has just conceded seven goals faces the league’s stingiest defense. Alexei Zhamnov’s team lost 1–7 at SKA on Monday after giving up five goals in the first period, with Max Comtois scoring on the power play. It was the Red-and-Whites’ fifth defeat in seven games, a slump that followed a six-game winning streak in October, although they remain fourth in the West with 30 points. Comtois also reached 50 KHL goals in last Friday’s 5–3 home win over Dinamo Minsk. Amur has allowed 38 goals in 23 games, the fewest in the KHL, one fewer than Lokomotiv. The Tigers kept a clean sheet on Sunday, beating Barys 2–0 as Alexander Trushkov recorded his fourth shutout of the season, and sit seventh in the East with 25 points. Spartak won the first meeting 2–1 in Khabarovsk on Oct. 14.
17:00: Metallurg (18-5-2, 1st E) vs Avangard (12-9-2, 6th E)
About the game
Metallurg ends a three-game home series following a win over Neftekhimik on Nov. 5 (8–1).
Avangard enters the second game of a three-match road trip following a loss at Dinamo Minsk on Tuesday (0–4).
The teams traded wins earlier in the season (2–3 OT, 5–1).
Metallurg’s forward Sergei Tolchinsky is on a six-game scoring streak, with 7 (1+6) points over that stretch.
Metallurg’s forward Igor Nechayev is on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (2+3) points.
Injury list
Avangard: Pavel Leuka.
17:00: Avtomobilist (11-9-3, 9th E) vs Shanghai Dragons (14-7-2, 6th W)
About the game
Avtomobilist starts a three-game home series following a win at Traktor on Sunday (3–2 SO).
The Shanghai Dragons, who defeated Avtomobilist earlier in the season (3–2), enter the second game of a three-match road trip following two consecutive losses.
Avtomobilist’s goalie Vladimir Galkin is on a 76:19 shutout streak.
Avtomobilist’s forward Alexander Kadeikin is on a seven-game scoring streak, with 7 (4+3) points over that stretch.
Avtomobilist’s forward Daniel Sprong is on a five-game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points.
Shanghai Dragons’ defenseman Brennan Menell is on a six-game scoring streak, with 7 (1+6) points over that span.
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Anton Slepyshev, Maxim Tarasov.
Shanghai Dragons: Nicolas Petan, Martin Frk.
Milestone alert
Avtomobilist’s forward Alexander Sharov may deliver his 200th KHL assist (currently at 199).
Avtomobilist’s goalie Evgeny Alikin may record his 30th KHL shutout.
Avtomobilist’s head coach Alexei Kudashov may celebrate his 400th KHL win.
17:00: Salavat Yulaev (12-11-2, 3rd E) vs Ak Bars (12-12-2, 5th E)
About the game
Salavat Yulaev starts a five-game home series following a loss at Neftekhimik on Tuesday (3–4 SO).
Ak Bars, who defeated Salavat Yulaev twice earlier in the season (4–3 OT, 2–1), starts a two-match road trip following a win over Torpedo on Monday (5–2).
Salavat Yulaev’s goalie Ivan Bocharov is on a 66:03 shutout streak.
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Sheldon Rempal is on a three-game scoring streak, with 6 (2+4) points over that stretch.
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Alexander Zharovsky is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 5 (1+4) points.
Salavat Yulaev’s forward Jack Rodewald is on a three-game scoring streak as well, with 4 (1+3) points.
Salavat Yulaev’s defenseman Yaroslav Tsulygin had one assist in each of his previous three games.
Ak Bars’ forward Andrei Stas is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points over that span.
Injury list
Salavat Yulaev: Alexander Alexeyev, Artyom Gorshkov, Grigory Panin, Nikita Shcherbakov, Dean Stewart.
Ak Bars: Artyom Galimov.
Milestone alert
Ak Bars’ defenseman Nikita Lyamkin may reach 200 career points (currently at 199).
17:30: Barys (12-11-1, 8th E) vs Admiral (11-9-3, 10th E)
About the game
Barys starts a two-game home series on a three-match losing streak.
Admiral, who defeated Barys twice earlier in the season (5–4 OT, 5–4), starts a four-match road trip on a two-game winning streak.
Injury list
Admiral: Mario Grman, Kirill Zhukov, Fyodor Kroshchinsky, Kyle Olson.
Milestone alert
Admiral’s goalie Nikita Boyarkin may record his 10th career shutout.
19:30: Spartak (13-8-4, 4th W) vs Amur (12-10-1, 7th E)
About the game
Spartak, who defeated Amur earlier in the season (2–1), starts a two-game home series following a loss at SKA on Monday (1–7).
Amur starts a five-match road trip following a win over Barys on Sunday (2–0).
Amur’s goalie Alexander Trushkov is on a 62:38 shutout streak.
Injury list
Spartak: Daniil Orlov, Will Reilly, Christian Jaros.
Amur: Danila Galenyuk, Alexander Dergachyov, Maxim Dorozhko, Dmitry Kostenko.
Milestone alert
Spartak’s forward Pavel Poryadin lines up for his 600th league appearance.
Amur’s forward Kirill Urakov may reach 100 KHL points (currently at 99).
