Today we're looking at a spicy little showdown between Amur Khabarovsk and Barys Astana. Amur's keeper, Dmitry Lozebnikov, with an impressive season stat of... huh, zero saves! A stat that matches perfectly with Viktor Kobozev's. The Barys Astana boys aren't faring any better with Nikita Boyarkin and Johan Mattsson both nursing their presumably bruised egos with identical zeroes.
Bringing our attention to the front lines, at Khabarovsk, it's Alex Galchenyuk leading the pack - mustering up 6 goals and 4 assists this season - closely followed by Evgeny Grachyov racking up 4 goals and 4 assists.
Astana is flaunting Alikhan Omirbekov with 5 goals and 6 assists, getting some solid backup from Kirill Panyukov who's contributed with 5 goals and 3 assists.
History is apparently written by the victors, and in the past matchups between these two teams, it's been Amur writing chapter after chapter. The recent record isn't doing Khabarovsk any favors though, their 5-22 win-loss ratio is even bested by Astana's once dismal-looking 9-18.
Nothing better than a 'David vs Goliath' story. Or in this case, more like 'Goliath vs slightly taller Goliath'. With recent performances considered - Amur losing to Spartak Moscow, SKA St. Petersburg, Traktor Chelyabinsk, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg and Metallurg Magnitogorsk, while Barys won against Metallurg Magnitogorsk, HC Sochi, and Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk - it's all seeming a little tipped.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys, girls, and hockey-obsessed pet owners, based on historical one-upmanship, performance, player stats and the alignment of the cosmos, here it comes.
Albert’s Prediction: Barys Astana by 2
