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SKA hosts Dinamo Minsk on a three-game KHL Friday
Eighth and ninth in the West, with a single point between them, SKA and Dinamo Minsk get top billing on Friday’s three-game KHL schedule in Saint Petersburg. Earlier, Severstal, winner of its last two games after an autumn slump, hosts Traktor, which has risen from the bottom of the East behind Man of the Week Nathan Legare. Also on the schedule, Torpedo returns home after two heavy road defeats to face Lada, which has won four of its last six.
The matchday opens in Cherepovets, where Severstal and Traktor meet for the first time this season. At the start of November, Traktor sat last in the Eastern Conference after three straight defeats. Three wins and a shootout loss in four games have since lifted Scott Gordon’s team into the thick of the playoff race, and Canadian forward Nathan Legare has been at the heart of the revival. Named the KHL’s best forward of last week, he leads the Black-and-Whites with ten goals in his first season in the league. Severstal knows how quickly things can turn. The Steelers won seven straight games between Oct. 3 and Oct. 19, conceding only nine goals, then managed one win and seven goals in their next six outings. They have now won two in a row to reach 30 points, 4–1 at HC Sochi last Thursday, and 4–3 over Lada on Monday, when captain Adam Liska scored twice on the power play. Today, one team will have a chance to build on recent wins.
At the same hour, Torpedo hosts Lada in Nizhny Novgorod, and the visitors bring the best stretch of their season. The Togliatti side won just two of its first twenty games, but it has taken four of the last six, all by a single goal and three of them beyond regulation. Two were 1–0 wins over Lokomotiv, with goalie Andrei Mishurov keeping the Railwaymen off the scoresheet both times, and the latest came on Wednesday in Sochi. Lada still shares the bottom of the West with HC Sochi on 17 points. Torpedo, which moved into the conference’s top three with a 4–3 win over Dynamo Moscow last Saturday, comes back after conceding five goals in each of its last two games, 2–5 in Kazan on Monday and 1–5 at CSKA on Wednesday. Torpedo won the first meeting between the two sides 7–2 in Togliatti on Sept. 11.
The matchday ends in St. Petersburg with its key game, as SKA hosts Dinamo Minsk with eighth place in the West at stake. Wednesday reshuffled the playoff line: Dynamo Moscow’s 2–1 OT win at SKA lifted the Blue-and-Whites to seventh, while the point SKA took from it moved the hosts one ahead of the Belarusians, who had returned to the top eight only the night before. That return came with a 4–0 home win over Avangard on Tuesday, when all four goals arrived in the third period and Zach Fucale made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season, ending a three-game skid. SKA, led by Andrei Razin since Oct. 18, came back from 0–2 down to win 3–2 at Amur last Friday, with Rocco Grimaldi scoring the winner, and then thrashed Spartak 7–1 on Monday for its biggest win of the season. Dinamo won the first meeting 4–2 in Minsk on Oct. 8, handing SKA its first back-to-back defeats of the season.
19:00: Severstal (14-9-2, 5th W) vs Traktor (11-10-4, 8th E)
About the game
Severstal enters the second game of a four-match home series following two consecutive wins.
Traktor starts a four-match road trip following a win over the Shanghai Dragons on Tuesday (5–2).
Traktor’s forward Nathan Legare is on a five-game scoring streak, with 7 (3+4) points over that stretch.
Traktor’s forward Mikhail Rolgizer is on a four-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points.
Traktor’s defenseman Vladislav Valentsov had one assist in each of his previous three games.
Injury list
Severstal: Nikolai Burenov, Yegor Graf, Timofei Davydov, Gennady Chaly.
Traktor: Vitaly Kravtsov.
19:00: Torpedo (14-7-3, 4th W) vs Lada (6-15-5, 11th W)
About the game
Torpedo, who defeated Lada earlier in the season (7–2), starts a five-game home series after two consecutive losses.
Lada ends a three-match road trip following a win at HC Sochi on Wednesday (4–3 OT).
Injury list
Torpedo: Mikhail Vorobyov.
Lada: Artyom Volkov, Artyom Karpov, Doyle Somerby.
Milestone alert
Torpedo’s forward Daniil Seroukh may reach 100 career points (currently at 98).
Torpedo’s defenseman Yaroslav Dyblenko may record his 100th KHL assist (currently at 99).
19:30: SKA (12-10-2, 8th W) vs Dinamo Minsk (9-9-7, 9th W)
About the game
SKA enters the third game of a four-match home series following a loss to Dynamo Moscow on Wednesday (1–2 OT).
Dinamo Minsk, who defeated SKA earlier in the season (4–2), starts a six-match road trip following a win over Avangard on Tuesday (4–0).
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.
Dinamo Minsk: Maxim Maltsev, Nicolas Meloche.
Milestone alert
SKA’s defenseman Andrei Pedan lines up for his 400th league appearance, while goalie Artemy Pleshkov may reach 100.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Daniil Lipsky lines up for his 200th KHL game.
Dinamo Minsk’s goalie Vasily Demchenko may record his 30th KHL shutout.
