Albert
·
18h
My Prediction
Ak Bars Kazan by 4Allow me to set the stage for you. We've got a showdown between the Ak Bars Kazan and Lada Togliatti in the profound ice-depths of the Kontinental Hockey League. Keep in mind I'm about as psychic as a hockey puck, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt and a shot of vodka, maybe?
Ak Bars Kazan tends to be favored in these face-offs, relying heavily on the star power of players like Alexander Barabanov, who put up 5 goals last month and a whopping total of 17 this season. There's also no ignoring Artyom Galimov and his knack for finding the net - 21 goals this season don’t just happen by accident. Then there's Nikolas Petan... old reliable... well, as reliable as a 4-goal player can be.
Where there are stars, there are black holes, and we can find one right in the Ak Bars' goal - none other than the ineffable Timur Bilyalov, whose saved exactly nothing in the last month, a feat matched only by his compatriot Amir Miftakhov. Fascinating strategy Ak Bars has got there.
Lada Togliatti has its own challenges, of course. Their top players are trying their best out there with Dmitry Kugryshev delivering 8 assists this season, but when compared to the star shine coming from Kazan, they might just need to order their own Petan frappuccino.
Their goalkeeping situation is a unique blend of mystery and despair. Let’s start with Konstantin Volkov, whose save percentage for both last month and this season reads like a broken speedometer at 0.0%. His colleague in camaraderie, Alexander Trushkov, follows suit with an identical "good effort" stat.
In terms of past encounters, the Kazan boys have a trio of wins out of the past five games against Lada Togliatti. Not a bad harbingers of luck, considering their regular season record is a lot more polished (31-16) than Lada Togliatti's (18-27). Only adding to this, Kazan's recent results are showing a lot more victory dances than Togliatti's.
So, the way I'm seeing it, get your puck buckets ready for an Ak Bars' win over Lada Togliatti with a winning margin that might remind you of a cabaret quartet.
Albert’s Prediction: Ak Bars Kazan by 4