Vityaz vs Metallurg. How will the Ural team's visit to one of the championship's outsiders end?
On December 25, Vityaz, near Moscow, in distress, will hold a home match against the best team in the championship - Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The meeting will take place in Podolsk.
It is highly likely that in the near future the Moscow Region team will officially find itself without playoffs at the end of the regular season, having lost even the theoretical chances of getting into the top eight teams in the Western Conference. Although initially nothing foreshadowed such a disastrous performance. In the summer, a number of strong players were acquired, so that during the season Vityaz was among the solid middle peasants. The coaching position was somewhat embarrassing, where Yuri Babenko only had to try himself as a coach of the KHL club.
So far, the experiment should be recognized as unsuccessful. Systematic problems in defense have not gone away, despite the change in game combinations in defense and the four goalkeepers involved in the three months of the championship. The only bright spot is the top three of the attack Oyamäki - Aaltonen - Odette, which is among the most productive in the League (48 goals were scored for three and 54 assists were given). This was not enough to achieve the result. Now Vityaz has firmly established himself at the bottom of the standings, with 33 points scored ahead of only Riga Dynamo in the West. At the moment, 13 points are already separated from the Vityaz playoff zone, which, taking into account the current form of the team, is a verdict for the Moscow Region team.
Metallurg
In contrast to the problematic Vityaz, the performance this season of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgist looks like. And here it is worth once again to note the work of the club's coaching staff headed by Ilya Vorobyov. An ideally balanced team, where there was a place for both creative hockey players and players of the power plan. Somewhat embarrassing is the insufficient depth of the bench, how the team will behave in the event of the loss of several players is not yet clear.
In the meantime, Metallurg manages to avoid personnel problems, which has a positive effect on the game dynamics. Metallurg scores a lot (142 goals is the best result in the League), concedes enough (97 conceded - the third result in the East), so the chances of taking first place in the regular season not only in the East, but throughout the League are quite high. Now Magnitka has 63 points, and the best team of the Western Conference of St. Petersburg SKA is five points less. In many ways, the decisive factor in the fight for the championship will be the next couple of weeks, when Metallurg will play against Ak Bars, Avangard and Salavat.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Vityaz vs Metallurg
VityazIt is highly likely that in the near future the Moscow Region team will officially find itself without playoffs at the end of the regular season, having lost even the theoretical chances of getting into the top eight teams in the Western Conference. Although initially nothing foreshadowed such a disastrous performance. In the summer, a number of strong players were acquired, so that during the season Vityaz was among the solid middle peasants. The coaching position was somewhat embarrassing, where Yuri Babenko only had to try himself as a coach of the KHL club.
So far, the experiment should be recognized as unsuccessful. Systematic problems in defense have not gone away, despite the change in game combinations in defense and the four goalkeepers involved in the three months of the championship. The only bright spot is the top three of the attack Oyamäki - Aaltonen - Odette, which is among the most productive in the League (48 goals were scored for three and 54 assists were given). This was not enough to achieve the result. Now Vityaz has firmly established himself at the bottom of the standings, with 33 points scored ahead of only Riga Dynamo in the West. At the moment, 13 points are already separated from the Vityaz playoff zone, which, taking into account the current form of the team, is a verdict for the Moscow Region team.
Metallurg
In contrast to the problematic Vityaz, the performance this season of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgist looks like. And here it is worth once again to note the work of the club's coaching staff headed by Ilya Vorobyov. An ideally balanced team, where there was a place for both creative hockey players and players of the power plan. Somewhat embarrassing is the insufficient depth of the bench, how the team will behave in the event of the loss of several players is not yet clear.
In the meantime, Metallurg manages to avoid personnel problems, which has a positive effect on the game dynamics. Metallurg scores a lot (142 goals is the best result in the League), concedes enough (97 conceded - the third result in the East), so the chances of taking first place in the regular season not only in the East, but throughout the League are quite high. Now Magnitka has 63 points, and the best team of the Western Conference of St. Petersburg SKA is five points less. In many ways, the decisive factor in the fight for the championship will be the next couple of weeks, when Metallurg will play against Ak Bars, Avangard and Salavat.
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