Viktor Bobrov with a short distance shot after a counter attack, easy glove save for Galimov.

The guests are back at full strength.

A shot by Niskala from the right circle is blocked by Glass with a pad save.

Atlant stay the dominant team in this period but time is working against them. They only have five minutes left for the equalizer – or even more!

A quite optimistic no look shot from the left wing by an Atlant forward went just wide.

Back hand attempt by the hosts through Alexei Petrov at the left post, stopped by the referees after several players of both teams battled too hard for the puck and the net moved.

The hosts are back at full strength. None of the teams was able to create any danger recently.

Already the next injury! This time Valery Vasiliev was hit from behind by Igor Levitsky and hurt his hand. He leaves the match under a lot of pain! Eurolivescores.com wishes him a speedy recovery!

Atlant's Mikhail Glukhov receives attention by the medical staff of his team. During his attempt to check an opponent into the boards he missed him and hit his head hard! Very dangerous! Let's hope he can continue!

Spartak fail to use the additional space during their man advantage but at least they keep Atlant in their own third.

The guests are back at full strength.

A blue line shot is no danger for Glass who uses his gloves to stop the puck.

The Atlant power play formation doesn't work too well currently. They just had to break up an attack as several of their forwards were still in the Spartak third.

After a long pass an Atlant defender seemed to have everything under controll before he lost the puck to an opponent just in front of his own net. Lucky for him his team mate cleared the situation.

A weird rebound from the leg of a Spartak defender almost led to an excellent scoring opportunity for Atlant but they failed to react fast enough.

The teams don't look very happy due to this additional break just after the start of the period.

The Spartak net left its original position and arena staff and referees try to fix it.

The home side has problems to keep the puck inside the Spartak third. No danger...

Atlant prepare for a last offense in this second period.

Spartak had everything more or less under their controll but with their last penalty they started to give Atlant a little of their confidence back.

Spartak were able to avoid another dangerous situation in front of their net during the rest of the power play and are back at full strength.

Evgeny Artyukhin tries it with a fast shot just after entering the Spartak third but Glass easily blocks the puck to the side!

Spartak dominated the first half of the middle period. The home fans see this and support Atlant very loud to help their team back into the game.

The hosts are back at full strength.

Igor Volkov was left alone at the right circle so that he was able to fire a blast towards the net of Galimov – nice glove save!

Deron Quint who is very active in this game – maybe the best player of his team apart of the goalie Glass – tries it with a shot from the right wing that only finds the gloves of Galimov.

Icing by Spartak.

Huge effort by Mayorov who won the puck back inside the Spartak zone but against three opponents at once he stayed chanceless.

Nice combination between Trubachyov and Levitsky. Atlant's #80 received the puck at the right circle but his flat shot was stopped easily by Glass.

Counter opportunity for the home side over Alexei Mikhnov but in the last moment he is stopped by a defender and loses the puck.

The Spartak offense wins the puck after a hard battle in the right corner. The following shot is blocked by the Atlant defense.

The guests are back at full strength.

A blue line shot by Batyrshin almost went through the five hole but somehow Glass was able to stop the puck with his legs.

Hard check by Spartak's Matt Anderson who hits his opponent Janne Niskala in the neutral zone so that he crashed into the boards. The home fans are booing at him.

Ryazantsev with a short distance shot for Spartak but both goalies play excellent in this first period.

Icing by Atlant.

Igor Volkov receives a short pass on the left wing and fires the puck from the left circle towards the right bottom net – Galimov is there in time with a pad save!

On the other side of the ice Trubachyov tries it with a pass from the left wing but the angle was too sharp.

Harmless shot by Wandell from a central position, easily blocked by Galimov.

Atlant with a great variation of speed. Sometimes they prepare attacks very long just to surprise their opponents with high speed in the next moment.

Nice solo by an Atlant forward but his shot from short distance only hits the chest of Jeff Glass.

The hosts try it from any possible angle. So far Glass can keep his net clean.

Vitaly Novopashin receives the puck deep inside the guest's zone but despite having a lot of time he misses the net from a central position!

Long clearance by the Atlant defense which didn't look very stable with a man less on the ice.

The Spartak power play does an impressive job. They are able to create a lot of nice passes just in front of the Atlant net. The best chance so far – a half high shot by Deron Quint into the gloves of Galimov – was cleared though.

The guests win the following face off from the right circle but the shot is blocked.

Tom Wandell almost with an opportunity for Spartak but he was just one step too slow to reach the puck before Galimov could get it under controll.

Another dangerous shot on goal by an Atlant forward – this time Igor Levitsky. His shot from the right wing towards the right corner was blocked though by the goalie.

The hosts are trying to take over the initiative more and more under good support of their own fans.

Icing Spartak.

Both teams start very aggressive and the guests don't hide in these first minutes.

After only 11 seconds hosts Atlant appeared the first time in front of the Spartak net but guest goalie Glass didn't have to intervene.

The atmosphere in Mytishchi is great. The fans can't wait for the first face off to start the new season.

The Russian national anthem is being played. The game can start very soon.

Starting lineups:

Atlant Mytishchi: Galimov (Borisov) – Batyrshin, Rukavishnikov, Sanguinetti, Niskala, Novopashin, Atyushov, Dyblenko, Petrov – Glukhov, Kablukov, Koltsov, Enqvist, Mayorov, Haataja, Trubachyov, Radulov, Levitsky, Mikhnov, Artyukhin, Kadeikin

Spartak Moscow: Glass (Shesterkin) – Quint, Sergeyev, Bodrov, Megalinsky, Vasilyev, Ryazantsev, Mamkin, Kulik – Spirko, Anderson, Wandell, Kozlov, Nikulin, Volkov, Nikontsev, Yunkov, Krutov, Chernykh, Bobrov, Medvedev

Referees: Kadyrov, Bondar – Sivov, Shelyanin

There are high expectations for both Atlant Mytishchi and Spartak Moscow to improve their records for the 2013-14 season.

Last year Atlant finnished the regular season as 8th in the West and had just a one-point advantage towards the non-playoff spots. In the following playoffs though they stayed chanceless against regular season winners SKA St. Petersburg and lost against them in 5 games – in three of them they received 6 or more goals against.

On the other side Spartak Moscow disappointed clearly and only earned 1.0 points per game which made them end the season as 13th and thus second last of the Western Conference, leaving only Dinamo Riga behind themselves. Afterwards they were thrown out by Dinamo Minsk in the first round of Nadezhda Cup, the newly created competition for the KHL teams that missed the playoffs.

While Atlant were able to replace most of their star players who left for other teams, Spartak were able to sign top players like Tom Wandell (Dallas), Deron Quint (Traktor) or Alexander Nesterov and Igor Volkov (both Spartak).

Welcome. Game starts at 16:30 GMT / 17:30 CET / 19:30 MSK.