Back in action

21 December 2023

After a pause for All-Star and international play, the Dragons will be hoping that the rest has done some good. Our guys finished in good form, winning five out of six before the break. With new recruits Tyler Graovac and Gemel Smith available, and more players returning to fitness, a strong show over the holiday period could lift our guys back into the top eight.

Traktor Chelyabinsk (h), Dec. 22, 1930 Moscow Time

Last time out: Back in October we suffered a 2-5 loss in Chelyabinsk, despite two goals from Devin Brosseau. Our last meeting in Mytishchi came in Oct. 2022 when an overtime strike from Brandon Yip gave us a 3-2 verdict.

Familiar faces: Our Finnish forward Teemu Pulkkinen spent two seasons with Traktor and became a popular figure at the club. Since joining KRS, Teemu has 11 (5+6) points in 20 games.

Background: Maxim Shabanov is the Traktor man to watch in this game. The 23-year-old forward leads his team in scoring in only his second full season in the KHL. He’s already on 33 (16+17) points this term, and has 6 (2+4) from his last five games. Shabanov, who graduated through the club’s junior ranks, also set a record-breaking hot streak of 14 games – no Traktor player has done better in the KHL era, and he took the mark from Petri Kontiola and Lukas Sedlak. That run included a goal and two assists in the Dragons’ 2-5 loss in Chelyabinsk.

Despite Shabanov’s form, this hasn’t been the easiest of season’s for Traktor. Head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin departed early in the campaign; Alexei Zavarukhin is serving as interim head coach and has the team in sixth place in the east. However, there has been little consistency in Traktor’s game and the Chelyabinsk club is in danger of missing the playoffs for a second season. GM Ivan Savin insists there will be no repeat of last year’s failure, though. “We’re not even thinking about the possibility of missing the playoffs,” he said. “The level of our players, the depth of the roster and the qualifications of the coaching staff are more than enough to achieve at least that goal.”

Traktor will arrive in Mytishchi having played at Dinamo Minsk the day before our game.

Spartak Moscow (a), Dec. 24, 1400 Moscow Time

Last time out: Spartak might be top of the standings, but the Dragons won two of the three previous games against Alexei Zhamnov’s pace-setters. The most recent was a 5-3 home win on Nov. 30, paced by two goals from Luke Lockhart and sealed with a Spencer Foo empty-netter.

Familiar faces: None

Background: Much of the talk around Spartak’s free-scoring run to the top of the standings has focussed on Nikolai Goldobin’s prolific form. In the build-up to Sunday’s game, though, the focus has moved to Shane Prince and Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovi, now 41, is still awaiting his debut for Spartak after signing up with his first club last month. It’s more than 20 years since he last played for the Red-and-Whites, and his first appearance on the team is sure to be a big event for all concerned.

Prince, meanwhile, finally shook off an injury during the international break. The naturalized Belarusian forward signed an extended contract once fit again, and repaid his first week’s wages with two goals in a road win at Torpedo on Tuesday.

Fans can expect goals at the Megasport Arena. Our previous three encounters have finished 4-3, 3-4 and 5-3 and Spartak currently leads the KHL in goals with 154. That’s 27 more than Dynamo Moscow. However, only six teams have allowed more than the Red-and-Whites, giving our forwards every chance of doing some damage.