On February 20, Ak Bars will host Spartak at their home arena. Should we expect productive actions from the teams? Let’s take a look at the teams and make a prediction.
AkBars
On February 18, Ak Bars visited Ufa, where they lost to their principal rival Salavat Yulaev (2-3). Dmitry Kvartalnov’s squad conceded the third goal while killing the penalty a second before the end of the final period. Before that, the Kazan team snatched a guest victory over Dinamo Riga (4-3), and the trip to Magnitogorsk before the break ended in defeat for Ak Bars (0-3). In the Eastern Conference standings, the Leopards retain their leadership position by six points from Avangard.
Spartak
Muscovites moved Vityaz from the eighth position of the Western Conference standings. On February 18, Spartak successfully travelled to Nizhny Novgorod, where they took two points in the confrontation with Torpedo (3-2). This is how Oleg Znarok’s team rehabilitated for an away defeat from SKA (1-3) and a disastrous away match against Severstal (2-5).
AkBars – Spartak prediction
Spartak showed excellent movement and effective attacking play against Torpedo. Now they need to play to the limit of their capabilities in every match because a ticket to the playoffs is at stake. Ak Bars will try to rehabilitate after losing in Ufa. The game in Kazan will turn out to be high-scoring.
