Sweden vs Russia. What will the Russian youth show in the game against experienced Scandinavians?

The second round of the Karjala Cup starts with a Saturday match between the national teams of Sweden and Russia. The meeting will take place on November 13 in Helsinki, on the ice of the local Hartwall Arena.

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Sweden vs Russia

Sweden

The Swedish national team failed last season on the international stage. The Scandinavians managed not to qualify for the group at the World Championship, thereby remaining outside the playoffs. Euro hockey tour for the Swedish national team also did not develop in the best way - only the third final place, after the national teams of Russia and the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, Juhan Garpenlev retained his position as head coach and is now determined to rehabilitate himself for last year's failure.

In Finland, the Swedish national team has traditionally carried a fairly experimental squad, where there was no place for many star hockey players playing in Europe. So from the KHL Garpenlev invited only one player - the goalkeeper of the St. Petersburg SKA Lars Johansson. It was Johansson who eventually became one of the heroes of the starting game of the tournament against the Czech national team. On account of the goalkeeper 17 reflected shots and only one conceded puck. The field players supported the initiative of their goalkeeper and hit the Czech goal four times. Holmberg, Klingberg, Olofsson and Bengtsson have scored goals for the Swedish national team.

Russia

Last year's experiment involving the attraction of potential youth team players to the national team at the first stage was recognized as successful, and now talented Russian youth will again perform in Finland. Of the more or less aged players under the banner of the national team, 25-year-old Vovchenko and Yelesin were involved, otherwise the average age of the team is around 20 years old. The youngest hockey player of this convocation was Matvey Michkov from St. Petersburg SKA, whose debut for the national team in the game against the national team of Finland was the earliest in the history of national hockey. The previous record of Alexander Ovechkin was 17 years 11 months and 15 days, while Michkov made his debut at 16 years 11 months and 2 days.

The debut can hardly be called successful, the Russian team lost in the opening match of the Karjala Cup to the hosts of the tournament - the Finns. It was an equal fight for a period and a half, but a number of unnecessary deletions broke the game, resulting in a dry 0-3 defeat. The Russian team conceded all three goals, playing in the minority. The Finns scored twice in the second period (Pesonen and Aaltonen), and Filppula put an end to the match in the middle of the third period.

Sweden vs Russia

Statistics

Last season, the national teams of Sweden and Russia met five times, four times in the Eurotour and once in the group stage of the World Cup. All five games ended in favor of the Russian team (Karjala Cup 2-1, Channel One Cup 4-3, Swedish Hockey Games 2-1, Czech Hockey Games 6-4 and World Championship in Latvia 3-2). If we consider the relationship of these teams specifically at the Karjala Cup, then here the Swedes are in a losing position. The last time Tre Krunur defeated the Russian national team on Finnish soil was in 2014, since then every meeting has invariably ended in favor of the Russians.

ODDs from download 1xbet

In the upcoming game, the bookmaker gives preference to the Swedish national team, setting a coefficient of 1.76 for Tre Krunur to win. For comparison, the victory of the Russian team is offered with a coefficient of 3.85, a draw option can be taken for 4.5. Also, the bookmaker is leaning towards the effective course of the fight, as evidenced by the quotes for the total number of goals scored: TO (4.5) - 1.62, TU (4.5) - 2.25. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

The attempt of the Russian national team to play against the Finns on defense can hardly be called successful. Failing to succeed in the attack, the Russian hockey players still missed three unanswered goals into their own gates. There is no point in choosing a similar option in the second game in a row, so we should expect more open hockey from the Russian national team, with an emphasis on playing in attack. There is a certain risk in this, but the status of the tournament allows you to experiment. We are waiting for an effective game, and each of the rivals can show off scoring achievements. Our forecast is TO (4.5) with a factor of 1.62.

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