CSKA vs SKA. Who will win the “army derby” this time?
The fourth meeting of the two army teams in the current championship will take place in Moscow, December 27, on the ice of the capital’s CSKA Arena.
Something incomprehensible continues to happen to the army club throughout most of the championship. While everyone has already become accustomed to CSKA's weak start after winning the Gagarin Cup, this season the starting crisis has dragged on. Last season, Sergei Fedorov's team made significant progress in the second part of the regular championship, reaching the playoffs in second place. Now we can only dream about the top three, the army team is much closer to eighth position in the West (seven points advantage) than to third place (ten points behind Yaroslavl Lokomotiv).
At the same time, there is no doubt that the army team will make it to the playoffs even with similar results; the three losers in the West have already been practically determined. The team's performance is another matter. After the break in the championship, the army team played three matches with direct competitors in the Western Conference, that is, with potential opponents in the playoffs, and lost three times. It all started with a 1-4 defeat from fellow countrymen Dynamo, followed by an unsuccessful trip to St. Petersburg, where the army team was defeated by St. Petersburg teammates with a score of 6-2. The away game in Yaroslavl, against the local Lokomotiv, turned out to be relatively equal, but even there the army team eventually lost, conceding the decisive goal in overtime. Now CSKA has 47 points and is only sixth in the Western Conference standings.
SKA
The St. Petersburg team is only a line higher, but the level of play of the team from St. Petersburg relative to their capital teammates is now much higher. At the same time, SKA hockey players also failed the first part of the regular season, but by November they managed to get rid of their gaming problems. The results of the St. Petersburg club in this time period are impressive - Roman Rotenberg’s team took points in 15 matches in a row, with victories in 14 matches, and the only defeat in the away match against Avtomobilist came in the post-match shootout.
The points streak was interrupted last Saturday when the St. Petersburg army team played an away match in Nizhny Novgorod. Moreover, after two periods SKA was leading 1-0, but failed in the final segment of the match, conceding three unanswered goals. Despite the current fifth place, the team from the banks of the Neva has every chance to intervene in the sport of the leaders of the Western Conference in the near future. Only two points separate the Army team from Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, which is third, so now everything is in the hands of the Army team.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on CSKA vs SKA
CSKASomething incomprehensible continues to happen to the army club throughout most of the championship. While everyone has already become accustomed to CSKA's weak start after winning the Gagarin Cup, this season the starting crisis has dragged on. Last season, Sergei Fedorov's team made significant progress in the second part of the regular championship, reaching the playoffs in second place. Now we can only dream about the top three, the army team is much closer to eighth position in the West (seven points advantage) than to third place (ten points behind Yaroslavl Lokomotiv).
At the same time, there is no doubt that the army team will make it to the playoffs even with similar results; the three losers in the West have already been practically determined. The team's performance is another matter. After the break in the championship, the army team played three matches with direct competitors in the Western Conference, that is, with potential opponents in the playoffs, and lost three times. It all started with a 1-4 defeat from fellow countrymen Dynamo, followed by an unsuccessful trip to St. Petersburg, where the army team was defeated by St. Petersburg teammates with a score of 6-2. The away game in Yaroslavl, against the local Lokomotiv, turned out to be relatively equal, but even there the army team eventually lost, conceding the decisive goal in overtime. Now CSKA has 47 points and is only sixth in the Western Conference standings.
SKA
The St. Petersburg team is only a line higher, but the level of play of the team from St. Petersburg relative to their capital teammates is now much higher. At the same time, SKA hockey players also failed the first part of the regular season, but by November they managed to get rid of their gaming problems. The results of the St. Petersburg club in this time period are impressive - Roman Rotenberg’s team took points in 15 matches in a row, with victories in 14 matches, and the only defeat in the away match against Avtomobilist came in the post-match shootout.
The points streak was interrupted last Saturday when the St. Petersburg army team played an away match in Nizhny Novgorod. Moreover, after two periods SKA was leading 1-0, but failed in the final segment of the match, conceding three unanswered goals. Despite the current fifth place, the team from the banks of the Neva has every chance to intervene in the sport of the leaders of the Western Conference in the near future. Only two points separate the Army team from Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, which is third, so now everything is in the hands of the Army team.
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