The KHL matchday starts in the Western Conference, when a slumping Vityaz side tries to invert the trend hosting Sibir. The Novosibirsk side, however, had an excellent start of the season and despite the recent loss to Avtomobilist is the fourth seed of the East.
The action then moves to Kazan, where Ak Bars welcomes Traktor. Both teams can be considered a disappointment so far – especially Traktor – but thing may change should a victory in a tight matchup erupts. And this game is a nice chance for both teams to start getting things going the right way, with Ak Bars’ Alexander Radulov trying to reach the 200-goal mark.
After a tough loss to Torpedo, Avangard tries to improve its stock in Nizhnekamsk – the only team without a win so far. The Hawks are getting closer to the end of its 12-game road trip to start the season, and they are improving of late. However, Neftekhimik is yet to get a win and, sooner or later, they will eventually take two points. Moreover, the boards had a few moves on the market this week, and maybe the roster’s shift will work.
A showdown between HC Sochi and Amur closes a light KHL Sunday. Both teams are on a losing streak, and a win may invert the trend for either the Black Sea or the Far East franchise.
14:00: Vityaz (4-3-2, 8th W) vs Sibir (5-4-1, 4th E)
About the game
Vityaz enters the second of a four-game home series on a five-match losing streak.
Sibir, which recorded its latest away win over Vityaz on Sep 30, 2018 (4:3), starts a four-match road trip and lost to Avtomobilist on Thursday (3:5).
Injury list
Vityaz. Alexander Avtsin.
Sibir: Vadim Kudako.
Milestone alert
Sibir’s forward Taylor Beck lines up for his 300th KHL game.
17:00: Ak Bars (5-2-1, 3rd E) vs Traktor (4-6-0, 8th E)
About the game
Ak Bars ends a two-game home series and lost to Spartak on Wednesday (0:2).
Traktor ends a three-match road trip and defeated Neftekhimik on Friday (5:3).
Traktor’s forward Vladimir Tkachyov is on a four-game scoring streak, with 7 (5+2) points over that span.
Milestone alert
Ak Bars’ forward Alexander Radulov may tally his 200th KHL goal.
17:00: Neftekhimik (0-8-1, 11th E) vs Avangard (3-6-1, 9th E)
About the game
Neftekhimik is in the middle of a three-game home series and lost all nine games since the start of the season.
Avangard is at its eleventh of a twelve-game road trip and lost to Torpedo on Friday (2:4).
Avangard’s forward Sergei Tolchinsky is on a five-game scoring streak, with 8 (3+5) points over that span.
17:00: HC Sochi (1-8-0, 11th W) vs Amur (3-5-1, 10th E)
About the game
HC Sochi enters the third of a four-match home series on a five-game losing streak.
Amur starts a four-game road trip and lost its previous four matches.
Injury list
Amur: Andrei Alexeyev, Vyacheslav Gretsky, Michal Jordan.
Milestone alert
HC Sochi’s forward Vasily Glotov may reach 100 KHL games.
Amur’s forward Igor Rudenkov is on the lookout for his 100th KHL point.
After nine consecutive victories, SKA suffered its first loss of the season. Roman Rotenberg’s men went down in a shoot-out against Dynamo Moscow, which defeated this opponent at the third attempt this season. Elsewhere, Metallurg resumed the lead in the East following a 4-0 win over Kunlun, Salavat Yulaev edged Dinamo Minsk in a shoot-out and there were wins for Lokomotiv and Severstal.
Metallurg’s power play ended Kunlun’s resistance as Magnitka returned to the top of the Eastern Conference. The Steelmen needed some patience to solve Jeremy Smith, and the visitor caused a few alarms early in the game, but Ilya Vorobyov’s men finished with a convincing victory.
Magnitka had a slight edge in the first period, but the best chance fell to Red Star’s Ryan Sproul. He got to the rebound from a Zac Leslie point shot and forced Eddie Pasquale into a leaping save. Early in the second, Pasquale was relieved to see a Doyle Somerby shot hit the post and bounce to safety, but soon after that Metallurg got on top.
The Dragons killed their first penalty of the day, but five seconds after returning to full strength they allowed Nikita Korostelyov to open the scoring. Two more penalties in the middle frame brought two more goals, both scored by Andrei Chibisov.
In the third period, Metallurg dominated. The home team saved the best goal of the day until the end, producing a scintillating passing move around the Red Star zone before Yegor Yakovlev finished it off.
Salavat Yulaev loves a game against Dinamo. Today was the 13th time in a row that Ufa defeated the Belarusians. However, this was one of the closest in that series as Craig Woodcroft’s team was good value for a tie in regulation.
The visitor, perhaps mindful of that long losing streak, began the game at a high tempo and put the early pressure on Salavat Yulaev. Woodcroft’s men pressed hard and had two power play chances but failed to open the scoring.
In the second period, some sloppy defensive work almost presented Dinamo’s Roman Gorbunov with the opening goal, but Ilya Ezhov bailed out his teammates. Yet, despite all that Minsk pressure, Ufa got ahead with a buzzer beater at the end of the session when Alexander Chmelevski broke the deadlock.
It took a little over two minutes of the third for Dinamo to tie the scores. Nikita Pyshkailo pounced on a rebound to score from close range. However, Salavat Yulaev responded fast and Sergei Shmelyov’s 100th KHL goal restored the home lead. But a penalty for Evgeny Timkin opened the door for Dinamo once again and Vitaly Pinchuk’s effort took the game to overtime.
Dinamo might have won it in the extras: Joseph Duszak’s interception sent him away for a duel with Ezhov, but the goalie came out on top. Thus, the game went to a shoot-out where Nikolai Kulemin delivered the decisive blow.
Stepan Nikulin’s goal early in the third period lifted Lokomotiv over Admiral and extended the home team’s winning run to four games.
Exactly one week ago, Nikulin scored in a shoot-out to finally break a 0-0 tie against Vityaz and kickstart Lokomotiv’s season. Today, the 21-year-old got on the end of a delicate passing move to slot Denis Alexeyev’s feed into an open net and restore his team’s lead in the 45th minute.
That goal proved decisive, even though Admiral played almost four full minutes with an extra skater. Goalie Nikita Serebryakov went to the bench shortly after Maxim Osipov took a minor penalty on 55:46. Serebryakov never returned, but Loko repelled that late onslaught.
Earlier, the teams were deadlocked until late in the second period. Then Alexeyev’s feed from behind the net set up Georgy Ivanov for the opening goal. However, Admiral responded before the intermission when Anton Berlyov picked out a great diagonal pass and Michal Kristof’s one-timer did the rest.
SKA’s nine-game winning streak this season already included two successes against Dynamo. Could the Blue-and-Whites make it third time lucky on Saturday? The Muscovite defense was reinforced with 25-year-old American Brennan Menell. Previously, he played 52 games for Dinamo Minsk, scoring 45 (6+39) points in the 2020-2021 season. Today he added to that tally with a helper on Eric O’Dell’s power play marker.
The first period was an intense battle, with few clear-cut chances at either end. It wasn’t until the closing moments that SKA managed to ask serious questions of Ilya Konovalov in the Dynamo net. First, the visiting goalie did well to thwart Marat Khusnutdinov on the counterattack but, in the final minute of the frame, Damir Zhafyarov put the home team in front.
In the second period, Dynamo enjoyed rather more puck possession and eventually managed to turn that into a tying goal. The pressure ultimately saw Andrei Pedan pick up SKA’s first penalty of the game and, on the same power play, Menell sent O’Dell down the left flank to deliver a shot that clipped Dmitry Nikolayev’s helmet on its way into the net.
The third period was a cautious affair, with both teams concerned not to throw away at least one point in search of a second. In the extras, both teams were more committed to offense. Dmitrij Jaskin set up Alexander Nikishin early in the session, but the young defenseman’s effort was saved by Konovalov at the second attempt. At the other end, O’Dell forced Nikolayev into a smart glove save seconds before the hooter.
It all went to a shoot-out and the two teams shared nine unsuccessful attempts before Dmitry Rashevsky found a way past Nikolayev to give Dynamo the verdict. Victory over SKA at the third attempt, and a first defeat for the home team, helped move the Blue-and-Whites up to second in the West, albeit level on points with Spartak and Torpedo.
Severstal snapped a three-game losing streak and returned to the top eight in the West thanks to victory at home to Barys.
Andrei Razin’s team got off to a great start when Dmitry Moiseyev opened the scoring in the third minute. However, against a Barys side looking to build on its own run of four wins from five, the Steelmen struggled to control the game. Late in the opening frame, Anton Sagadeyev tied it up.
Early in the second, Barys ran into penalty trouble. A ‘too many men’ call was punished by Kirill Pilipenko, then Ruslan Abrosimov extended the lead while Ansar Shaikhmeddenov sat for holding. When Alexander Petunin made it 4-1 in the 29th minute, starting goalie Julius Hudacek was replaced by Nikita Boyarkin. It was an unhappy return to Severstal for the Slovak, who played his first full KHL season in Cherepovets in 2017-2018.
Barys tried to make a game of it. Jeremy Bracco scored on the power play late in the second period to keep things interesting going into the final stanza. However, when Moiseyev potted his second of the game, there was no way back for the visitor.
