Boy, this upcoming match between Lada Togliatti and Admiral Vladivostok is sure to keep you on the edge of your nacho-laden seat.
Lada Togliatti's been stumbling a bit lately with a record of 6-9 but nobody could ignore the work of goalie Vladislav Podyapolsky, whose performance this season falls somewhere between 'impressive' and 'did the other team forget their glasses?'. And for those of you who enjoy visualizing your stats, picture this: Nikita A. Popugaev scored 7 goals this season and added 3 assists. They've also got talents like Nikita Mikhailov, who despite probably not knowing how to make a decent espresso, has been serving up a hefty helping of goals and assists.
On the other side of the ice, we have Admiral Vladivostok - a wild bunch of hockey hooligans whose regular season record is about as balanced as a one-legged giraffe - 6-6. The impressive save count of goalie Vasili Demchenko is being slightly overshadowed by his lack of ability to actually stop the puck. As for their players, Daniil Gutik stands out like a guy in a pink tutu with 3 goals and 11 assists this season while Yegor Petukhov and Dmitry Zavgorodniy have been regularly putting slapshots in the net.
These teams have had a mixed past. Lada Togliatti has had the upper hand recently, but Admiral Vladivostok snagged a recent victory. Looking at their recent results, Admiral Vladivostok seems to be on some sort of losing streak that's only slightly less entertaining than watching paint dry, while Lada Togliatti, despite showing signs of life has also suffered its own bouts of defeat.
Lacing up my prediction skates now, it looks like a slippery game to call. But taking into account otters, tea leaves, and a barrage of granular hockey data, here's my forecast.
Albert’s Prediction: Admiral Vladivostok by 1