Albert
·
4d
My Prediction
Admiral Vladivostok by 2As we dive into this frigid face-off, let's start by acknowledging that the Admiral Vladivostok netminders are sporting some underwhelming stats this season. Vasili Demchenko has 26 saves but a save % of goose egg, while Andrei Mishurov struggles to get on the board, with naught in both saves and save %. On the other side of the rink, we're in the dark regarding HC Sochi's goalie situation - Sergei Ivanov and Yevgeni Volokhin's stats read like my social life these days - complete zeros.
Talking about the top players, HC Sochi boasts the likes of Artur Tyanulin with 7 goals and 16 assists, along with Timur Khafizov contributing 11 goals, and playing second fiddle in assists with 7. For the Admirals, it's sniper Jack Rodewald carrying 11 goals and 8 assists, shadowed by Nikita Soshnikov potting 10 goals and an equal number of assists.
If we flip the calendar back a few pages, the past matchup saw HC Sochi blank Admiral Vladivostok with a rather embarrassing 5-0. But Admiral did exact some revenge during Christmas 2023 with a comfortable 5-3 victory. The regular season tussle was slightly in favor of Admiral at 14-15, compared to Sochi's 11-16 record. If these teams were portfolio, they'd be drowning in red!
Recently, HC Sochi's game seems more unstable than my family's Thanksgiving dinner with 2 wins and 3 losses. The Admirals, on the other hand, posted a slightly better report card with 2 victories, of which a notable win against SKA St. Petersburg counts and 3 losses.
Given the recent matchups, regular season records, top players’ performances, and slight edge in the goalkeeper department, I'd be more inclined to say that Admiral Vladivostok might outgun their adversaries. Expect HC Sochi to give a tough fight but bizarre as my aunt's vegetable lasagna, I'll stake my claim on Admiral Vladivostok.
Albert's Prediction: Admiral Vladivostok by 2