20 November 2024
The world looks different after a good win. Sunday’s shut-out success against Dinamo Minsk sees the Dragons looking forward to a tough road trip with greater optimism. This week we’re off to the Urals to take on the top two in the Eastern Conference before swinging home via Tatarstan and a game at Neftekhimik.
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (a), Nov. 21, 1700 Moscow Time
Last season: A 5-2 win at home to the Motormen snapped a long run of often heavy defeats against this opponent. That was a game of happy families: goals for Tyler and Austin Wong, points for both Spencer and Parker Foo. Now it’s time to snap a long run of losses in Yekaterinburg, where our last four visits have yielded just one goal.
Familiar faces: When Jesse Blacker joined the Dragons in 2017, it was the start of a long attachment to the KHL. After one year with us he moved on to Barys and has been a key part of Avto’s D-core since 2021.
Setting the scene: This could be Jan Drozg’s first game for the Dragons. The Slovenian international forward joined us on Monday from Amur, where he played since 2022. Jan, 25, had 6 (2+4) points in 23 games this season on a struggling Tigers team, but his career KHL tally is a rather healthier 58 (22+36) in 118, including five points in six playoff appearances last season.
If involved, Jan will face a test in his first game for his new club. Avtomobilist is cruising along in second place in the Eastern Conference, despite the end of its seven-game winning streak on Monday when it suffered a surprise loss at home to Neftekhimik. As usual, Stephane da Costa, Brooks Macek and crowd favorite Anatoly Golyshev are among the leading scorers in Yekaterinburg.
Traktor Chelyabinsk (a), Nov. 23, 1400 Moscow Time
Last season: Both our games against Traktor ended as 2-5 losses. The Dragons last defeated this opponent in overtime on Oct. 7, 2022.
Familiar faces: None
Setting the scene: When Traktor hired Benoit Groulx as head coach in the summer, the decision raised eyebrows in Russia. It wasn’t so much that Groulx lacks the credentials to coach at this level – his resume includes World Junior gold in 2014/15 and several years as a head coach in the AHL. It was more surprise that the club management was so willing to dispose of Alexei Zavarukhin’s services after he led the team to the conference final after taking over from Anvar Gatiyatulin in Nov. 2023.
However, three months…
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