SKA faces Torpedo seeking a return to win
The KHL matchday starts with two Eastern Conference games, with Avtomobilist hosting Kunlun Red Star, and Metallurg welcoming Dinamo Minsk. Both the home teams appear as the favorites in these two clashes, but Dragons had a couple of inspiring victories so far, and the Belarusians are showing good hockey so far – unpredictability is key for those games.
The action then moves West, with Severstal hosting Admiral after defeating Barys on Sunday. After a strong start, Admiral is currently on a losing streak, and they will want to revert the trend. Then, Lokomotiv, CSKA, and SKA all have home games. The Railwaymen have a winning streak alive and a home game against a slumping Barys is the perfect moment to stretch it. CSKA and SKA, instead, had losing efforts recently, even if of different magnitude. SKA won nine straight matches before losing to Dynamo Moscow on Sunday after SO, while the Muscovites are barely the eighth seed in the West and need a win to get things going in an entertaining Moscow derby against Spartak.
17:00: Avtomobilist (7-2-1, 2nd E) vs Kunlun Red Star (3-6-1, 10th W)
About the game
Avtomobilist starts a three-game home series and defeated Sibir on Thursday (5:3).
Kunlun Red Star is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost its previous couple of matches.
The Dragons’ latest win in Yekaterinburg is dated Sep 01, 2017 (2:1).
Injury list
Avtomobilist: Nick Ebert, Alexei Makeyev.
Kunlun Red Star: Tyler Wong, Cliff Pu.
Milestone alert
Avtomobilist’s forward Sergei Shirokov may celebrate his 200th KHL goals (currently at 199).
His teammate, forward Pavel Kulikov, may score his 100th career point (currently at 99).
Avtomobilist’s forward Curtis Valk may reach 100 KHL assists (currently at 99).
Avtomobilist’s goalie Igor Bobkov may reach 30 KHL shutouts.
17:00: Metallurg (7-1-2, 1st E) vs Dinamo Minsk (6-2-2, 5th W)
About the game
Metallurg is in the middle of a three-game home series and is on a six-match winning streak.
Dinamo Minsk is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost to Salavat Yulaev on Saturday (3:2 SO).
The Belarusian franchise had its most recent victory in Magnitogorsk on Jan 03, 2018 (2:1).
Metallurg’s goalies Eddie Pasquale and Vasily Koshechkin have active shutout streak, at 104:12 and 60:00, respectively.
Metallurg’s forward Denis Zernov is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (2+1) points over that span.
Metallurg’s forward Brendan Leipsic is also on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (0+4) points.
Metallurg’s forward Nikita Korestelyov is on a five-game scoring streak, with 5 (1+4) points.
Injury list
Metallurg: Anatoly Nikontsev.
Dinamo Minsk: John Gilmour.
Milestone alert
Metallurg’s goalie Vasily Koshechkin eyes his 90th KHL shutout.
Dinamo Minsk’s forward Vladimir Alistrov lines up for his 100th KHL game.
19:00: Severstal (5-4-1, 7th W) vs Admiral (4-5-1, 7th E)
About the game
Severstal ends a three-game home series and defeated Barys on Sunday (5:2).
Admiral enters the second of a four-match road trip on a three-game losing streak.
The Sailor’s most recent win in Cherepovets is dated Nov 26, 2015 (5:4 SO).
Severstal’s defenseman Robin Press is on a three-game scoring streak, with 3 (1+2) points.
Injury list
Admiral: Semyon Ivanov, Dinar Khamidullin, Vadim Khlopotov, Alexander Shevchenko.
Milestone alert
Severstal’s forward Daniil Vovchenko may reach 100 KHL assists (currently at 99).
Admiral’s forward Rudolf Cerveny lines up for his 100th KHL game.
19:30: Lokomotiv (6-3-1, 6th W) vs Barys (4-5-1, 6th E)
About the game
Lokomotiv, who never lost to Barys at home, is at its second of a four-game home series and won its previous four matches.
Barys is in the middle of a three-game road trip and lost to Severstal on Sunday.
Barys’ defenseman Jesse Graham is on a five-game scoring streak, with 6 (0+6) points over that span.
Barys’ forward Jeremy Bracco is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (2+2) points.
Injury list
Lokomotiv: Nikita Cherepanov, Alexei Marchenko.
Milestone alert
Lokomotiv’s forward Yegor Averin may reach 300 KHL points (currently at 299).
19:30: SKA (9-0-1, 1st W) vs Torpedo (7-2-0, 4th W)
About the game
SKA is in the middle of a three-game home series and lost its first game of the season on Sunday to Dynamo Moscow (1:2 SO).
Torpedo starts a three-match road trip on a three-game winning streak.
The Nizhny Novgorod’s side most recent win in St. Petersburg is dated Aug 29, 2015 (3:1) and its forward Dennis Yan is on a three-game scoring streak, with 4 (1+3) points over that span.
Injury list
SKA: Danil Moiseyev, Mikhail Pashnin, Alexander Samonov, Artyom Shvets-Rogovoy.
19:30: CSKA (5-3-1, 8th W) vs Spartak (6-2-2, 3rd W)
About the game
CSKA starts a two-match home series on a two-game losing streak.
Spartak ends a three-match road trip and won its previous couple of games.
Spartak’s goalies Alexei Krasikov and Patrik Rybar have active shutout streaks – 70:25 and 68:37 respectively.
Injury list
Spartak: Dmitry Kugryshev.
Milestone alert
CSKA’s forward Danil Yurtaikin may line up for his 100th KHL game.
His teammate, forward Mikhail Grigorenko, is on the lookout for his 100th goal at the KHL level (currently at 99).
Spartak’s forward Andrei Loktionov is seeking his 200th KHL point (currently at 199).
Source: en.khl.ru
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