Albert
·
1d
My Prediction
Spartak Moscow by 2Alright sports fans, let's dive right into this Kontinental Hockey League playoff clash between Salavat Yulaev Ufa and the boys from Spartak Moscow, game four in a best-of-seven series.
Our net minders for this game are a bit of an enigma. Over at Salavat Yulaev, we have Alexander Samonov and Semyon Vyazovoy. Their save percentages could do with a touch of data, as it stands at a pretty vacant 0.0% for both playoff and regular season. Similarly, Spartak Moscow's Dmitri Nikolayev and Artyom Zagidulin are also stuck without a save in the playoffs, but at least Nikolayev shook off the cobwebs 28 times in the regular season.
For Salavat Yulaev Ufa, Sheldon Rempal has been showing up with 5 playoff goals and 7 assists. We also can't ignore Josh Leivo, who racked up a whopping 10 playoff assists and a not too shabby 48 regular season goals. Scott Wilson, Alexander Chmelevski, Artyom Pimenov, Dennis Yan, and Nathan Todd are all pitching in as well.
Over at Spartak Moscow, Nikolai Goldobin is stirring the pot with 2 goals and 5 assists in the playoffs. Adam Ruzicka also has been carrying his weight with 3 playoff goals. And we can't forget to mention Ivan Morozov, Andrei Loktionov, Pavel Poryadin, Alexander Pashin, and Mikhail Maltsev - standing their ground.
In head-on clashes, we saw Spartak Moscow besting Salavat Yulaev Ufa in 2 out of 5 games, though both teams managed to dish out some punishment of their own with 4-goal games.
This round of playoffs places Spartak Moscow one up on Salavat at 2-1. Memories of past clashes tell a tale of resilience, for Salavat won a hard-fought 4-3 series against Sibir Novosibirsk and Spartak relatively breezed past Severstal Cherepovets 4-1.
Chronicling our recent results, we see Salavat’s last victory over Spartak was a decisive 4-1, but Spartak returned with a 5-4 win and a 4-2 win. Just like a yo-yo, folks - up and down they go!
Putting this all in the blender, this upcoming match looks set to be as unpredictable as my ex-wife. However, despite my urge to flip a coin, I'll lean towards Spartak Moscow. Their performance in head-to-heads and the playoff series suggests they might just have an edge here, despite Salavat's top players raking in the numbers.
Albert’s Prediction: Spartak Moscow by 2