Neftekhimik vs Metallurg Mg 10/27/2026

Neftekhimik will play game #19 of the season!

10/27/2026                  vs Metallurg Mg                  ⏰ 7:30 pm              KHL WEB 

Neftekhimik will play its first of two home games. Neftekhimik is on a two–game winning streak.

Metallurg Mg will play its first of four road games. Metallurg Mg won its last game.

Career Milestone:

Neftekhimik forward Andrei Belozyorov may score his 100th career assist (currently at 99).

Injuries:

Neftekhimik: Lyubalin Semyon.

Metallurg Mg: Dmitry Silantyev.

The Importance of This Game

For Neftekhimik, this game represents an opportunity to narrow the gap in the standings to six points.

Metallurg’s Current State

Metallurg Mg have been the most talked–about team in the KHL over the last two weeks. There are three key perspectives from which to view them:

Key Players and Their Form: Following a five-game winning streak, Metallurg Mg finally stumbled – losing in a shootout to Salavat Yulaev (4–5) despite holding a 3–1 lead after the first period. However, this setback did not slow them down for long. The debut of new head coach Konstantin Shafranov was a resounding success: they crushed Sibir (5–1), converting on both of their power-play opportunities. Several Metallurg players are currently on productive streaks: Nathan Todd (2+3), Luke Johnson (2+3), and Daniil Vovchenko (2+2) have each recorded points in three consecutive games; Ruslan Iskhakov has tallied points in five straight (3+2); and defenseman Valeri Orekhov has notched 9 points (3+6) over his last six appearances. The team has a proven ability to ramp up their intensity as a game progresses, frequently putting four or five goals on the board in a single night.

Coaching Staff: Following the departure of former head coach Andrei Razin, the club announced his successor: Konstantin Shafranov. The 58-year-old coach is a product of the Ust-Kamenogorsk hockey school. He played in Magnitogorsk during the second half of the 1990s, winning both a Russian championship and a EuroLeague title, making him a familiar name to Metallurg fans. For the past decade, he has served as an assistant coach for the Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL), as well as for Amur, Avtomobilist, Avangard, SKA, and Ak Bars. Prior to this, however, he had never held a position as a head coach. He is widely regarded as an expert in power-play tactics – having elevated this aspect of the game for teams ranging from the modest Amur to high-budget clubs like Avtomobilist, Avangard, SKA, and Ak Bars – and is a proponent of an exciting, attacking style of play. It is precisely for this style that the current Metallurg roster has been assembled, which may well be why he was the chosen candidate for the job.

Roster Changes.

The team suffered some significant losses over the summer. The most notable is the departure of 23-year-old goaltender Ilya Nabokov, who has headed overseas. Robin Press has returned to his home country, while Derek Barach has moved to CSKA. Alexei Maklyukov has also left the club, trading Magnitogorsk for SKA; in exchange, Metallurg Mg acquired goaltender Egor Zavragin and defenseman Egor Zelenov from the St. Petersburg side. Vladislav Provolnev, who spent five years with CSKA – winning two Gagarin Cups in the process – has joined Magnitogorsk. Stepan Starkov has also arrived from Vladivostok, and the team has signed Canadian forward Nathan Todd.

What Awaits the Fans.

This game marks the 58th anniversary of Neftekhimik. A wide range of activities is planned as part of the club’s birthday celebrations.

As for the rivalry between Neftekhimik and Metallurg, games in Nizhnekamsk have long since become a genre of their own – there is no such thing as a quiet evening here. Just look at the last four head-to-head games at the Neftekhim-Arena: a 2–1 overtime win in December 2025; a 5–3 victory for the hosts a month earlier; a 2–3 overtime loss in January 2025; and a 3–2 result in September 2024. Three of these four games went to overtime, the goal margin never exceeded two, and the teams averaged more than five goals per game. Drama is a staple here: the lead changes hands, deficits are erased, and games often go all the way to a shootout.

On home ice, Neftekhimik traditionally hold their own, boasting 17 wins in 29 home games against Magnitogorsk. The wildest high–scoring games in recent years have taken place on the other side of the Ural Mountains – a 9–6 game in Magnitogorsk in October 2025 and a 6–2 result this September. Thus, Neftekhimik chapter of this rivalry is defined not necessarily by a high total number of goals, but by the razor-thin margins between the two sides. In fact, twice in the last three years, Metallurg has left Neftekhimik with only a single point, having seen victory slip away in overtime.