Metallurg vs CSKA. Which of the opponents will start in the final with a victory?
The final series of the 14th Gagarin Cup starts on April 18 in Magnitogorsk with a match between the local Metallurgist and the capital's CSKA.
Over the past few years, Magnitogorsk has been holding its best season. This concerns both the quality of the game shown and the effectiveness of the results. Metallurg confidently became the best team in the League according to the results of the regular championship, leading throughout the championship. It is worth noting the game of the Urals in attack, according to the results of the championship, the team scored 164 goals, which by a noticeable margin was the best result in the KHL. For comparison, the rival in the final, the capital's army team, according to the results of the regular season, were able to score only 120 times.
Metallurg kept its high performance in cup battles as well. Over the past three rounds, in 17 matches played, Magnitka managed to score 64 times, that is, scoring an average of about four goals per match. In the playoffs, Barys were beaten 4-1, Omsk Avangard 4-3 and Chelyabinsk Tractor 4-1 in the semi-final. If you look for any disadvantages in the game of Ilya Vorobyov's wards, then here, first of all, you should pay attention to recurring problems in the defense. This was especially clearly demonstrated by the quarter-final series with Avangard, when Omsk in three won matches managed to score 20 goals at once. To some extent, this is due to the departure of the main goalkeeper, Finnish goalkeeper Juha Olkinuor. The entire load fell on the shoulders of the experienced Vasily Koshechkin, who, due to his age, does not always demonstrate a stable level of play.
CSKA
The army team in the first part of the season was one of the most criticized teams in the League. The change of head coach, in the offseason, Sergei Fedorov replaced Igor Nikitin, was supposed to radically change the game concept of the army team, making the team's style more attacking. In fact, it didn't work out very well. The average performance of the army team at the end of the regular season did not even reach the figure of 2.5 goals per game, having significantly decreased compared to last season. Nevertheless, in the championship the army team finished in third place, losing only to SKA and Jokerit in the West. First of all, this became possible due to the traditionally reliable game on the defensive; in terms of goals conceded, the army team has been among the best teams in the KHL for more than a season.
All the more surprising was the miraculous transformation of the army club in the playoffs. The difficult tournament bracket, where already in the first round CSKA's rivals got the extremely uncomfortable Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, did not become a serious obstacle on the way to the cup final. The series with Lokomotiv and Dynamo were won with the same score 4-0, the opponent did not get even the slightest chance to catch on for a positive result. The army confrontation at the semi-final stage turned out to be extremely tense, when the teams had to play the maximum possible number of matches. CSKA was on the verge of relegation, losing 2-3 during the series, but two victories in a row 3-1 and 3-0 brought Sergey Fedorov's wards to the final.
Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Metallurg vs CSKA
MetallurgOver the past few years, Magnitogorsk has been holding its best season. This concerns both the quality of the game shown and the effectiveness of the results. Metallurg confidently became the best team in the League according to the results of the regular championship, leading throughout the championship. It is worth noting the game of the Urals in attack, according to the results of the championship, the team scored 164 goals, which by a noticeable margin was the best result in the KHL. For comparison, the rival in the final, the capital's army team, according to the results of the regular season, were able to score only 120 times.
Metallurg kept its high performance in cup battles as well. Over the past three rounds, in 17 matches played, Magnitka managed to score 64 times, that is, scoring an average of about four goals per match. In the playoffs, Barys were beaten 4-1, Omsk Avangard 4-3 and Chelyabinsk Tractor 4-1 in the semi-final. If you look for any disadvantages in the game of Ilya Vorobyov's wards, then here, first of all, you should pay attention to recurring problems in the defense. This was especially clearly demonstrated by the quarter-final series with Avangard, when Omsk in three won matches managed to score 20 goals at once. To some extent, this is due to the departure of the main goalkeeper, Finnish goalkeeper Juha Olkinuor. The entire load fell on the shoulders of the experienced Vasily Koshechkin, who, due to his age, does not always demonstrate a stable level of play.
CSKA
The army team in the first part of the season was one of the most criticized teams in the League. The change of head coach, in the offseason, Sergei Fedorov replaced Igor Nikitin, was supposed to radically change the game concept of the army team, making the team's style more attacking. In fact, it didn't work out very well. The average performance of the army team at the end of the regular season did not even reach the figure of 2.5 goals per game, having significantly decreased compared to last season. Nevertheless, in the championship the army team finished in third place, losing only to SKA and Jokerit in the West. First of all, this became possible due to the traditionally reliable game on the defensive; in terms of goals conceded, the army team has been among the best teams in the KHL for more than a season.
All the more surprising was the miraculous transformation of the army club in the playoffs. The difficult tournament bracket, where already in the first round CSKA's rivals got the extremely uncomfortable Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, did not become a serious obstacle on the way to the cup final. The series with Lokomotiv and Dynamo were won with the same score 4-0, the opponent did not get even the slightest chance to catch on for a positive result. The army confrontation at the semi-final stage turned out to be extremely tense, when the teams had to play the maximum possible number of matches. CSKA was on the verge of relegation, losing 2-3 during the series, but two victories in a row 3-1 and 3-0 brought Sergey Fedorov's wards to the final.
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