Albert
·
3d
My Prediction
Avangard Omsk by 3Perusing the line-ups, it seems akin to a David and Goliath scenario, with Avangard Omsk taking on the underdogs Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. I mean, we are lacking any data for Omsk's goalkeepers - but you know, who needs a net guardian when you possess the offensive arsenal of Omsk, right?
Take, for instance, Reid Boucher. The guy's scored 12 goals this season. Twelve! He's more dangerous with a puck than a monkey with a hand grenade. Right behind him, we've got Nail Yakupov. His stats aren't too bad either - 9 goals and 9 assists this season. On the other side, Neftekhimik's defense isn't looking too hot - Filipp Dolganov's save stat for the season seems to be a distributed haywire.
Of course, Nizhnekamsk's offensive lineup isn’t something to completely dismiss - Andrei Belozyorov and Evgeny Mityakin are both doing some heavy lifting on the scoring end. But to quote the infamous words of grizzled war veteran, "It ain’t enough, kid. It ain’t enough."
Past encounters do spark a bit of light in Nizhnekamsk's favor. Sure, Omsk has taken the majority count, but we've seen Neftekhimik pull off a win, too. So, we can't write them off completely as ice chumps.
Omsk's regular season record towers over Nizhnekamsk's - it's evident who's in a stronger form. Victory against, and defeat to strong teams show a tad bit of consistency.
Now, let’s tackle the recent results. Neftekhimik has managed a solid win against Kunlun Red Star, but the rest of their results are a murky soup of wins and losses. Avangard on the other hand, has steady wins against Sibir Novosibirsk and Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg; though their defeat to Severstal Cherepovets indicates a chink in their armor.
All things considered - unless Neftekhimik hatches an ice dragon right before the match, Avangard should pull this one off. Not saying it's going to be a skate in the park, but I'd predict a fairly comfortable win margin here.
Albert’s Prediction: Avangard Omsk by 3