Let's dive in, shall we? The Kontinental Hockey League matchup between Ak Bars Kazan and Traktor Chelyabinsk is shaping up to be a classic ice-rink rumble.
First off, the goalkeepers. Ak Bars Kazan is sporting Amir Miftakhov and Timur Bilyalov between the pipes. Their stats, frankly, are puzzling: 39 saves each and a save percentage that seems to defy the laws of mathematics. Meanwhile, for Traktor Chelyabinsk, Sergey Mylnikov and Zach Fucale have been equally perplexing with statistics that suggest they're more interested in studying the sponsors on the back of the netting than stopping pucks.
Now, Ak Bars Kazan has a competent squad, some could say a bit more than competent. Nikita Lyamkin has shown up with some key assists alongside goal-scorer Kirill Semyonov. Add that to Nic Petan's consistent performance, and you've got quite the trio. On the other side, Traktor Chelyabinsk has a couple of aces up their sleeves with Maxim V. Shabanov, Alexander Kadeikin and Steven Kampfer giving an impressive performance.
Then, the history between these teams. It's back and forth - victories on both sides like they're handing out candy, though recent history edges toward Ak Bars Kazan.
Looking at the regular season record, and you would see it's almost a mirror image. Ak Bars Kazan stands at 9-5 while Traktor Chelyabinsk is a mere whisper away at 10-5. Recent results are quite topsy-turvy: Ak Bars Kazan triumphing over Metallurg Magnitogorsk, but then again, they did get stuffed full of goals by Sibir Novosibirsk. Traktor Chelyabinsk, on the other hand, have had a sequence of victories, but did take a hit by Avangard Omsk recently.
Considering all this, the show on ice today still seems to lean ever so slightly in favor of Traktor Chelyabinsk. Let's just say I'm seeing their victory by a margin of...oh, about two goals.
Albert’s Prediction: Traktor Chelyabinsk by 2