Only two matches will be played in the Kontinental Hockey League on Friday. In the first of them, Metallurg Magnitogorsk will play at home with Neftekhimik. Let’s review the performance of both teams and make a forecast for this match.
Metallurg Mg
The club from Magnitogorsk has already firmly settled on the sixth spot of the Eastern Conference’s standings, and Sibir is steadily catching up with them. Quarantine in the Magnitogorsk team has ended long ago, but they just can’t get in shape. Over the past three weeks, Ilya Vorobyov’s team was able to beat Barys in the away match only within shootouts (2-1). After that, Metallurg lost three times – on a visit to Amur (1-2 OT) and at home to Severstal (1-4) and Ak Bars (2-3 SO).
Neftekhimik
The team from Nizhnekamsk is an outsider in the Eastern Conference. They are only ahead of Kunlun Red Star. There is no question of fighting for a ticket to the playoffs. In mid-November, Neftekhimik had a 4-match series of defeats, losing at home to Barys (1-2) and CSKA (2-4), and on the road to Ak Bars (2-3) and Dynamo Moscow (0-3). Nizhnekamsk managed to interrupt a series of failures in a home match with Spartak (5-2), but this Wednesday, they lost a big game in Ufa to Salavat Yulaev (2-6).
Metallurg Mg – Neftekhimik prediction
It’s time for the Magnitogorsk team to come to its senses. If they have problems with one of the league’s outsiders in a home match, then what kind of ambitions can we talk about – a ticket to the playoffs from the eighth place will be a success. Our prediction is Magnitogorsk to win, considering overtime and shootouts.
