Metallurg vs CSKA. How will the next meeting of last year's Gagarin Cup finalists end?
Magnitogorsk "Arena Metallurg" on December 2 will be the venue for the central match of the next game day in the KHL. The local Metallurgist will host the current holder of the Gagarin Cup, CSKA Moscow, on home ice.
Magnitogorsk played the first part of November not in the best way, allowing a four-match failure. To some extent, the difficult calendar in this segment of the championship can serve as an excuse, which has identified Dynamo Moscow, Lokomotiv, SKA and Avangard as rivals for Metallurg. A series of failures cost Metallurg leadership in the East, Avtomobilist took advantage of the misfire, heading the conference standings.
Metallurg's gaming crisis did not drag on. In the next six matches of the regular season, Magnitka took 11 points out of 12 possible, losing only once in overtime to Avtomobilist. In the last game, the wards of Ilya Vorobyov showed off enough over Kunlun, defeating the Chinese club on the road with a score of 6-1, and after the first period Magnitogorsk was inferior in the score 0-1. After this victory, Metallurg reduced the gap from the leading Avtomobilist as much as possible, with 50 points gained, yielding only one point to the direct competitor. Novosibirsk Siberia breathes in the back of Metallurg, lagging behind Magnitogorsk by three points.
CSKA
The army team, as well as Metallurg, are currently second in their conference, having almost the same number of points - 51. Another parallel with Metallurg is an equally unsuccessful beginning of November. The army crisis was a little shorter and cost three lost matches. The wards of Sergei Fedorov lost in turn to Neftekhimik 3-4, Lokomotiv 2-3 and Spartak 1-2 in the capital derby. After that, the army team gave out a series of four victorious matches, which was interrupted in St. Petersburg by a major defeat from the local SKA with a score of 2-6. In fact, that game was decisive in the struggle for leadership in the West, in case of success, the capital team reduced the gap from their St. Petersburg teammates to a minimum.
At the moment, the two army teams are separated by 10 points, so CSKA should think more about maintaining the second position than fighting for the championship. And here everything is much more complicated. The advantage over the coming third Yaroslavl Lokomotiv is minimal and is only one point. The position of the army team is complicated by the injury of the leading defender Darren Dietz, received by him in the game against SKA. According to preliminary forecasts, Dietz will be forced to miss about a month, that is, at best, his appearance on the ice should be expected closer to the New Year.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Metallurg vs CSKA
MetallurgMagnitogorsk played the first part of November not in the best way, allowing a four-match failure. To some extent, the difficult calendar in this segment of the championship can serve as an excuse, which has identified Dynamo Moscow, Lokomotiv, SKA and Avangard as rivals for Metallurg. A series of failures cost Metallurg leadership in the East, Avtomobilist took advantage of the misfire, heading the conference standings.
Metallurg's gaming crisis did not drag on. In the next six matches of the regular season, Magnitka took 11 points out of 12 possible, losing only once in overtime to Avtomobilist. In the last game, the wards of Ilya Vorobyov showed off enough over Kunlun, defeating the Chinese club on the road with a score of 6-1, and after the first period Magnitogorsk was inferior in the score 0-1. After this victory, Metallurg reduced the gap from the leading Avtomobilist as much as possible, with 50 points gained, yielding only one point to the direct competitor. Novosibirsk Siberia breathes in the back of Metallurg, lagging behind Magnitogorsk by three points.
CSKA
The army team, as well as Metallurg, are currently second in their conference, having almost the same number of points - 51. Another parallel with Metallurg is an equally unsuccessful beginning of November. The army crisis was a little shorter and cost three lost matches. The wards of Sergei Fedorov lost in turn to Neftekhimik 3-4, Lokomotiv 2-3 and Spartak 1-2 in the capital derby. After that, the army team gave out a series of four victorious matches, which was interrupted in St. Petersburg by a major defeat from the local SKA with a score of 2-6. In fact, that game was decisive in the struggle for leadership in the West, in case of success, the capital team reduced the gap from their St. Petersburg teammates to a minimum.
At the moment, the two army teams are separated by 10 points, so CSKA should think more about maintaining the second position than fighting for the championship. And here everything is much more complicated. The advantage over the coming third Yaroslavl Lokomotiv is minimal and is only one point. The position of the army team is complicated by the injury of the leading defender Darren Dietz, received by him in the game against SKA. According to preliminary forecasts, Dietz will be forced to miss about a month, that is, at best, his appearance on the ice should be expected closer to the New Year.
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