Last match "Locomotive" managed to create a sensation by beating SKA on the road (2:1). The victory is all the more valuable because it was won on the road. Moreover, after the defeat in the first game with a score of 0:4, few people expected at least overtime from Yaroslavl.
After losing the first game Main coach team Dmitry Kvartalnov made several permutations in the composition. Instead of Alexei Murygin, Alexander Sudnitsyn appeared at the gate, and Canadian forward Brandon Kozun turned out to be all applications for the game. Instead, 17-year-old Grigory Denisenko came out in the first link. As you can see, the shake-up of the team gave the result.
In the first game, Lokomotiv failed to demonstrate their strengths - they conceded quickly, conceded a lot and conceded in the minority. But already in the second match, the Yaroslavl players appeared by themselves - only one missed puck and an excellent game of the special teams.
SKA
SKA failed to build on the success after a fairly easy outing in the first match of the series. Oleg Znarka's team failed to capitalize on their chances and allowed Lokomotiv too much in their zone. As a result, SKA suffered an unpleasant defeat at home (1:2).
It is interesting that SKA plays two consecutive matches with less than four fives of players - seven defenders and only 11 forwards. Perhaps, in the second match of the series, in addition to underestimating the opponent, fatigue also affected. On the other hand, Vadim Shipachev scores two matches in a row - this is a good sign for SKA.
If in the first game against Lokomotiv SKA managed to play productively in the attack and use the majority, then in the second game everything went awry for the army team - the defense did not play at the proper level, the special teams of the majority did not work, and for the first time in the playoffs SKA missed in the minority.
Forecast
After the defeat at home, Oleg Znarok will surely shake up his wards. "Locomotive" on courage can ruffle the nerves of the army team, but hardly more than that. We advise you to take a closer look at the bet on the victory of SKA in regular time with a coefficient of 1.86.
The central meeting of the 6th game week will take place next Wednesday in St. Petersburg. On September 10, at 19:30 Moscow time, hockey players from SKA and Yaroslavl Lokomotiv will take to the ice of the local Ice Palace.
The St. Petersburg army team, according to the tradition of recent years, being among the main favorites of the League, rolled into the current season quite hard. In the first three meetings, SKA suffered two defeats, forcing experts to talk about the crisis in the St. Petersburg club. As time has shown, the fears were unfounded. The new SKA mentor Ilya Vorobyov tried more than thirty players in the first matches, by mid-September he had decided on the optimal game combinations, and the results curve crept up sharply. Now the team has 11 wins in 14 meetings and a confident second place in the West.
It is worth paying attention to the almost perfect defensive formations of the club, the army team conceded only 20 goals, which is the best indicator of the League at the moment. The last away series (Spartak, Sochi, Jokerit) ended with three confident victories with a total goal difference of 15-3. Striker Nikita Gusev (21 points) and Swedish defender Patrick Hursley took the lead in the club, with 18 points leading the list of the most productive defenders of the League. Forty-year-old Pavel Datsyuk still looks impressive, having 13 assists to his credit. The team is on the move and the upcoming home series should be another confirmation of this fact.
Locomotive
Lokomotiv management surprised many last summer by ditching star legionnaires in favor of homegrown youth. Such a decision was taken with caution, but the first month of the regular championship largely dispelled fears. 19 points scored on the basis of 15 matches and a solid 4th place in the Western Conference can be considered a worthy answer to pessimists who did not believe in the Yaroslavl youth.
A kind of growing pains, directly related to a large number of young players, clearly highlights the main problem of the railroad - the lack of stability. The locomotive can give a great series of several matches, and then succumb to an outsider. Now the team is in a noticeable functional hole, losing 4 times in the last 7 matches. The position of Lokomotiv is aggravated by the injury of the main goalkeeper of the club, Czech Alexander Salak. Twenty-year-old Ilya Konovalov is not yet able to fully replace one of the strongest goalkeepers in the League.
Statistics
The game confrontation between SKA and Lokomotiv develops along a kind of sinusoid, where in the first seasons after the creation of the KHL, a noticeable advantage was on the side of the Yaroslavl hockey players. Everything has changed in the last few years, out of the last 10 matches, the St. Petersburg club has won 9 matches. Moreover, this season the teams have already held a full-time duel - on September 22, in Yaroslavl, SKA won a dry victory with a score of 2-0.
Betting League Odds
The current form of the teams has not gone unnoticed by bookmakers. It is the club from St. Petersburg that is the undisputed favorite of the upcoming match, the odds for SKA to win is 1.45. The chances of the Yaroslavl hockey players to win are 5.25, a draw is estimated as 5.50. The bookmakers also believe in productive hockey, TB(4.5) is played with a fairly low odds of 1.60, while the reverse bet on Under(4.5) is equal to 2.35.
The main sign of today's gaming day in the KHL without a doubt is the confrontation between Lokomotiv and SKA in Yaroslavl. Who will win in such a principled duel?
Locomotive
Lokomotiv has played eight games this season, winning six and losing only twice. Such results allow Dmitry Kvartalnikov's team to take the second position in the West. "Railroad" show a great attacking hockey, however, in recent meetings, the players can be seen some fatigue and lack of concentration. Most recently, Loko lost at home to Dynamo Minsk (1:2), and in the last meeting they showed strong-willed qualities and snatched victory from Vityaz Podolsk with a score of 4:3. As for the upcoming match, Lokomotiv obviously does not intend to lose in Yaroslav in front of its fans, however, the opponent will be very strong, and whether the railwaymen have enough physical strength and emotions is a big question.
SKA
Pitertsy changed their head coach and lost several key players in the offseason, however, the club does not intend to give up its leading position in the KHL. The start of the new KHL season turned out to be a failure by the standards of SKA: two defeats in the first three rounds. Nevertheless, the wards of Ilya Vorobyov improved their game, which is already confirmed by a five-match winning streak. Undoubtedly, the CSKA are still far from their peak, but there are clearly significant improvements in the game and the mood of the players, which is especially confirmed by SKA's last two away victories over Severstal (5:0) and Dynamo Moscow (4:0). Among the Petersburgers, it is worth highlighting Nikita Gusev, who in recent meetings gave five assists at once, and also rose to first place in the scorers table, having 12 performance points in his asset.
Statistics and personal meetings
- SKA won five games in a row.
- Lokomotiv won six out of seven matches.
- Lokomotiv concedes at least three goals during three head-to-head matches.
Forecast
Matches between Lokomotiv and SKA are a real treat for all hockey fans: both teams are among the best in the KHL and show a very strong game on both sides of the ice. The match will take place at the Arena-2000 in Yaroslavl, which gives an advantage to Lokomotiv, however, in recent matches, the railway workers do not look as confident as before. In turn, the St. Petersburg "soldiers" have finally adjusted their game and are ready to continue their victorious march. My prediction is the victory of SKA, taking into account the total goals scored over 3.5 with a coefficient of 2.2 in the bookmaker
In the current championship, Lokomotiv and SKA have already managed to exchange guest victories. Who will be stronger in the upcoming match? We believe that the wards of Ilya Vorobyov will celebrate the victory!
Team Form
The Yaroslavl club continues to leave the best impression with its game. In the last eight matches, the "railroad" managed to win seven victories, and three of them - with a "dry" score. It is especially worth noting how the wards of Dmitry Kvartalnov were able to play against the Moscow army, allowing them to create practically nothing at their gates. Surprisingly, Lokomotiv shows such high-quality results in the absence of Petri Kontiola and Andrei Loktionov, who are the most important players in the offensive line. The young players who represented the Russian national team at the World Championships in Vancouver continue to be absent. 15 games before the end of the regular season, the Yaroslavl team are in fourth place standings Western Conference, and with a game like this, they can look to the future with optimism.
Matches in Yaroslavl, the wards of Ilya Vorobyov will complete one of the most difficult away series of the season. It all started before the new year in the Far East, where the army team beat Kunlun, Amur and Admiral in an economical mode. Having rested during the New Year's break, the St. Petersburg club went to Minsk, where they also lazily outplayed the local Dynamo. The awakening of the SKA players began in Helsinki, where the team of Ilya Vorobyov confidently outplayed the Finnish Jokerit - 4:1. After that, the army team went to Yekaterinburg for a match with the leader of the Eastern Conference Avtomobilist: a bright and uncompromising battle was expected, but in reality the SKA hockey players made the score 6:0 and, with a sense of accomplishment, went to the final away match.
History of personal meetings
Within the framework of the KHL, the teams played 40 head-to-head meetings. On account of the Yaroslavl club 16 victories, and the army team were stronger in 24 cases. The goal difference is also on the side of the St. Petersburg team - 97:71. In the current championship, the rivals played two personal meetings: in Yaroslavl, SKA hockey players were stronger - 2:0, and in St. Petersburg, Lokomotiv players celebrated the victory - 1:0.
Bets and Predictions
Both clubs approach the face-to-face confrontation with a series of excellent results: the "railroad" have won seven of eight recent matches, and on account of the army team six victories in a row. At the same time, the clubs played their last games on the same day, only the wards of Ilya Vorobyov won confidently after the first period and calmly brought the matter to victory, then Lokomotiv had to cover and defend the winning score, without thinking about the upcoming match. Based on this, there is reason to believe that in the face-to-face rivalry, the players of the St. Petersburg club will be much fresher than their opponent. In addition, it is difficult to play active defense during one match, but it is much more difficult to maintain two games in a row at such a pace. Considering that in Yaroslavl Lokomotiv cannot beat the army team for nine games in a row, it can be assumed that this time the victory will go to the team of Ilya Vorobyov. You can bet on the victory of SKA in the bookmaker "1xBet" with a coefficient of 1.82.
For SKA, the most important task in the upcoming match will be to score an early puck, which will allow to play further from the defense and look for free zones from the opponent. The longer the “railroad workers” manage to hold back enemy attacks, the more difficult it will be for Ilya Vorobyov’s wards to open their defenses. That is why a very likely development in this game will be a quick puck. Even if the SKA players fail to open an account, Yaroslavl will catch them on the counterattack and take advantage of the free zones. You can bet on the fact that the first goal in the match will be scored from the first to the tenth minute inclusive, in the bookmaker "1xBet" with a coefficient of 1.91.
On September 22, Yaroslavl will host a KHL match between local Lokomotiv and SKA from St. Petersburg. The hosts are in second place, the guests are fourth in the Western Conference. Let's make a forecast for the match between Lokomotiv and SKA and make our bet in bookmaker.
Wards of Quarterly spend a very good segment of the season. At the start of the championship, Lokomotiv hockey players won 5 meetings and lost 2. The most interesting thing is that the railway workers suffered defeats at home. And if the loss to Avangard with a score of 0-4 can still be explained by a combination of fatal circumstances, then the defeat from Dynamo Minsk looks very strange.
Between these games, Lokomotiv held 5 meetings, and celebrated victories in all of them. Especially spectacular was the victory over Siberia with a score of 5-0. Here the hosts dominated throughout the match. 40 shots on target were made by Yaroslavl, and the opponent only 17. In this fight, all fives looked good. Only the second five did not score goals. The rest did it. Marked double Kontiola.
The away match with CSKA turned out to be very good. Already in the second period, the Yaroslavl club led 3-0. Here the first link distinguished itself by scoring 2 goals. The maximum that the Muscovites managed was to score a single goal. They moved the guests, but failed to realize scoring chances.
Let's pay attention to the performance of Lokomotiv hockey players. Yaroslavl has one of the best defenses in the KHL. The club conceded only 11 goals in 7 matches. Very often in team fights less than 5 goals are scored. Achieving a comfortable advantage for themselves, the Yaroslavl players bring the matches to a victorious end.
SKA
The St. Petersburg club has the same number of points as their opponent. Only because of the worst goal difference, SKA is lower in the standings.
In the previous 4 matches, Vorobyov's wards won victories. Moreover, in a recent meeting with Severstal, a convincing victory was won with a score of 5-0. Let's single out the first link, which has 4 goals. Double marked Yakupov and Hersley. SKA's lead on shots on target was 28-20.
Previously, SKA met with Spartak and won a minimal victory with a score of 2-1. Here again, the defense acted confidently, not allowing the opponent to attack from advantageous positions. The meeting between SKA and Jokerit turned out to be more tense. Here the teams had to play in extra time. Petersburgers were more successful. They scored the decisive goal, and the score became 4-3.
Most of the meetings SKA finished on a total of less than 5.5. IN Lately The team's defense looks very confident.
Prediction for the game
At the moment, the teams are in good shape. If we turn to the statistics of personal meetings, we can see that in the last 7 matches the teams scored less than 6 goals. Considering that Lokomotiv's defense is one of the best now, then the bet on the total under 5.5 seems to be passed.
Our bet and forecast: Under(5.5) with odds of 1.6.
