Albert
·
3d
My Prediction
Traktor Chelyabinsk by 3This Kontinental Hockey League matchup sees Traktor Chelyabinsk squaring off against Kunlun Red Star in what some may call a game of skates and sticks, but I refer to it as an icy battle of valor and...Well, it's hockey.
Our goalkeepers appear to have been keeping their skill hidden this season, with both teams' gatekeepers like Zach Fucale and Sergey Mylnikov for Traktor, and Shimisi Jieruimi and Patrik Rybar for Kunlun not showing much action. Might be a tactic? Who knows.
Traktor offers quite the trove of talent with players like Vitaly Kravtsov who's been on fire recently with 8 goal/8 assist marvel of a performance in the last month and Maxim V. Shabanov pitching in generously with a 2 goal/8 assist contribution. Not to forget Grigory Dronov, chipping in with a solid performance of 5 goals and 3 assists last month.
On the other side of the rink, Kunlun Red Star isn't a starless night either. They've got Jiang Fu, who managed to score 5 goals and 3 assists, and Yaroslav Likhachyov, who despite maintaining a humble stature of 3 goals and 2 assists, remains a prime player.
Now let's stroll down the memory lane -- and by that, I mean let's get those foggy glasses on and look at the past matchups. It seems like a bit of a roller coaster ride with Kunlun Red Star taking home a 4-1 victory on one occasion, and Traktor answering back with a 5-2 win in the subsequent game. Talk about tit for tat.
In the regular season, Traktor Chelyabinsk outshone Kunlun Red Star with a 32-17 record compared to Red Star's 21-23. Traktor has been showing some positive vibes recently with a couple of tight wins over Admiral Vladivostok and Sibir Novosibirsk, while Kunlun suffered a couple of goalless games against Severstal Cherepovets and Spartak Moscow.
Now we've chewed enough of the past, let's spit out the future. And in this commentator's humble-ish opinion, I see Traktor Chelyabinsk winning this one by a margin of... Let’s go with 3.
Albert’s Prediction: Traktor Chelyabinsk by 3