Serial number: who can surprise in the first round of the KHL playoffs
The KHL regular season is over. The season is over for six teams — Amur, Admiral, Barys, Shanghai, Sochi and Lada. The remaining 16 clubs continue to compete for the Gagarin Cup. The first round of the playoffs will be held according to the classical system within conferences. We analyze in detail all the pairs of the West and East and give forecasts for the completion of the series.
Lokomotiv (1st place) – Spartak (8th)
One win in the series seems to be the maximum for Spartak, which is approaching the playoffs in a bad way. And the loss this week of one of the best strikers, Adam Ruzicki, who quarreled with the club's management and teammates, looks critical.
In addition to the Slovak, several other leaders of the attack have recently been operating below their level. With the help of the efforts of the bottom three, the skill of goalkeeper Alexander Georgiev and tremendous luck, it is possible to bring certain difficulties to Lokomotiv. Hardly more. In the regular season, Yaroslavl won all four matches against the red-whites and are entering the playoffs from a position of strength.
Izvestia's forecast: the victory of "Locomotive" — 4:1
Dynamo Mn (2) – Dynamo M (7)
In the final games of the regular season, Muscovites ran away from the meeting with CSKA in the first round. So they have an idea how to deal with their Minsk teammates. Unlike in the first half of the season, Dmitry Kvartalnov's team had problems: the disagreements between the head coach and the management that spilled out, the defense that had lost its reliability, the injury of an important second-team striker Vadim Moroz, the unstable game of the main goalkeeper Zach Fucale.
Dynamo Moscow is an experienced team with bright players in all lines. This allows us to count on the fact that she will be able to survive in conditions of high intensity, abundance of power struggle and decent speeds. The effectiveness of the Minsk attack outside the first link is noticeably lower. The series can go according to any scenario, but the Blue and white are one of the best teams in the regular season on the road. They won't be embarrassed by other people's stands. A victory in one of the opening matches will put the Muscovites in a comfortable environment.
Izvestia's forecast: victory of Dynamo Moscow — 4:2
Severstal (3) – Torpedo (6)
Only about this series can we say that both rivals were lucky. They can handle each other, which is not the case with the rest of the playoff participants in the West. In recent months, Torpedo has been eating away at the capital accumulated earlier in the regular season. The team's performance is far from the benchmark right now. Goalkeeper Denis Kostin looks stronger than his Cherepovets counterpart Alexander Samoilov. Nizhny Novgorod also has more experienced players.
However, Severstal and its head coach Andrey Kozyrev, who were twice kicked in the teeth by Spartak in the first round, look more mature in their current configuration compared to their rivals. In the regular season, the Steelers won three of the four face-to-face matches, scoring 16 goals. It's not going to be easy for them, but they have to get lucky sometime.
Izvestia's forecast: victory of Severstal — 4:3
CSKA Moscow (4) – SKA (5)
A few years ago, the constant series of two army grandees was annoying. No one in the West could compete with them. Now everything has changed. The new episode of the confrontation is perceived differently. Both CSKA and SKA are in the process of reformatting. They are still far from the peak of their capabilities, but this makes it even more interesting to follow their evolution.
Igor Nikitin managed to rebuild a team that resembles a cup monster with its thoroughness, willingness to die defensively and act coolly without the puck. To achieve the ideal, you need to work hard. Whereas SKA played with fluctuations throughout the championship and depends more on personalities than on the system. First of all, this concerns the main goalkeeper Artemy Pleshkov and his replacement Sergey Ivanov. One of them should become the main character of the series. Then the Petersburgers will have a chance to get further away. In the meantime, it is relatively safe to assume that the series will be delayed.
Izvestia's forecast: CSKA victory — 4:3
Metallurg (1) – Siberia (8)
Siberia seems to have a lot to create a sensation. The team flew into the playoffs with wild confidence, taking points from the favorites. Her goaltending team in general and Mikhail Berdin in particular are capable of performing miracles. Siberians are able to endure and calmly bounce back, which is extremely necessary for cup matches.
Another thing is that Metallurg, which gave almost all the players of the main squad a rest at the end of the regular season and systematically prepared for the first round, should start making mistakes on its own so that the opponent could cling to at least the fight in the series. The experience of previous years shows that the Ural team, led by Andrey Razin, is based on two months of the playoffs, so they are not ideal at the initial stage. They need time to roll in. This is a chance for Sibir. However, at the moment there is no doubt that the favorite will take his place at the race. Even the uncertainty about goalkeepers does not seem to be a big problem for Metallurg at the moment.
Izvestia's forecast: victory of Metallurg — 4:1
Avangard (2) – Neftekhimik (7)
A scenario in which the Omsk heavyweight will fail in a series with a modest "Neftekhimik" can be thought up, but it will look too fantastic. For example, the injury to the main goalkeeper Nikita Serebryakov, coupled with a massive viral infection. In theory, it's possible, but in reality it's almost impossible.
Right now, Avangard is too strong to be defeated four times with the resources Nizhnekamsk has. The main goalkeeper of Neftekhimik, Philip Dolganov, had not spent a single second in the Gagarin Cup by the age of 27. Head coach Igor Grishin knows how to prepare his teams for the playoffs, which he proved with his successful work in the VHL. Neftekhimik does not have to think about the game for long, and his hockey players will have plenty of strength for the first round. This promises at least a hard fight in individual matches. If Nizhnekamsk residents manage to pick up a couple of games, it will already be a success.
Izvestia's forecast: Avangard's victory — 4:1
Ak Bars (3) – Traktor (6)
The most intriguing series of the first round in the East is notable for the figure of Ak Bars head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin. He will have to fight against his hometown club without the right to make mistakes. Departure at this stage with a probability close to 100% will mean serious changes in the organization — this applies to both Kazan and Chelyabinsk. There is no such powerful subtext in any other pair. The cup ambitions of both teams were great before the season, so the result will be questioned as strictly as possible.
Traktor lost ten matches in a row in Kazan, which says a lot about the opponent's "convenience". Chelyabinsk will probably start the series without leading defender Grigory Dronov and, if we analyze the work of head coach Evgeny Koreshkov, they will rely on defense. The team began to concede noticeably less, and the key element of this is goalkeeper Dmitry Nikolaev. Traktor's chances of reaching the second round largely depend on him. If he plays perfectly, this task will be feasible. If it doesn't work out, Ak Bars, which has a better selection of field players, will go further.
Izvestia's forecast: Ak Bars won 4-3
Avtomobilist (4) – Salavat Yulaev (5)
Avtomobilist now looks like a team with no weaknesses, and the only question regarding it remains the ability of head coach Nikolai Zavarukhin to use the trump cards in his hands with maximum efficiency.
In the regular season, the Yekaterinburg team's game model turned out to be quite inconvenient for Salavat Yulaev, who won only once in four matches with a total goal difference of 9:15. Goalkeeper Semyon Vyazovoy can stand on his ears, Sheldon Rempal can score a lot of points — it's far from certain that this will be enough for Ufa to advance to the next round. The defense seems too vulnerable to players who know how to act cunningly and unconventionally. It also remains unclear the condition of Evgeny Kuznetsov, who will miss the start of the series.
Izvestia's forecast: victory of "Avtomobilist" — 4:2
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