Red Star Kunlun vs Avtomobilist Prediction 4 February 2025

🔊 Will the "Dragons" interrupt the winning streak of the guests? Kunlun still has a chance to make it to the Gagarin Cup playoffs. But it's only a matter of time. The team seems to be doing everything to prevent that from happening and regularly loses points. Avtomobilist, on the other hand, remains the hottest team in the league and continues its impressive winning streak, which now stands at 10 games.

📊 Head-to-Head

In the current regular season, the opponents have faced each other once, and the game turned out to be surprisingly tough. The team from Yekaterinburg managed to overcome the resistance of the "Dragons" (2:1 SO) with a bit of luck. Avtomobilist's forward Brooks Macek made the decisive contribution to his team's success. The German scored two shootout goals. The player is currently in fairly decent form and has scored points in three of the last six matches.

🔴 Kunlun

Mikhail Kravets' team is mathematically still capable of fighting for a spot in the playoff eight. The current gap from Nizhny Novgorod's Torpedo is only six points. However, it's hard to believe in the "Dragons'" success. The team's play leaves much to be desired. The diverse group of North American legionnaires doesn't seem particularly eager to fight for the Gagarin Cup. In the last seven matches, Kunlun has suffered five defeats and hasn't moved any closer to the playoff zone.

⚪ Avtomobilist

The team from Yekaterinburg continues to amaze. Nikolay Zavarukhin's squad has gained phenomenal momentum and already secured 10 consecutive victories. During this stretch, the team managed to overcome Salavat Yulaev (4:1), Spartak (3:2), and Avangard (2:1). The club last lost almost a month ago to the Eastern Conference leader, Traktor Chelyabinsk (0:2). After such an impressive series of successes, the guests themselves could soon take the top spot in the conference standings. There are all the prerequisites for this: the team consistently scores and defends smartly, and their special teams play is also at an excellent level.

🔗 Probable Lineups

Kunlun: Rybar - Clendening, Lefebvre - Drozg, Graovac, Halbgewachs

Avtomobilist: Galkin - Vorobyov, Dietz - Khripunov, Da Costa, Macek

🥅 Goalkeepers

Kunlun's goalkeeper Patrik Rybar hasn't improved his play since moving from Spartak Moscow to the "Dragons." The Slovak had a poor performance against Ak Bars (88.1%) and was one of the main culprits in his team's crushing defeat. Nevertheless, he continues to be given regular chances here.

Avtomobilist's goalkeeper Vladimir Galkin played three consecutive matches for the first time in a long time and looked rather ineffective. The graduate of the Sverdlovsk hockey school only managed to maintain a 90% save rate once, and the team achieved three victories not because of their goalkeeper's actions but rather despite them.

📝Editor's Prediction

The current standings and form of the opponents leave us with little choice. The advantage of the Yekaterinburg team looks overwhelming. Kunlun rarely manages to put up a decent fight against top clubs. Meanwhile, hockey players from Sverdlovsk region convincingly deal with underdogs. Moreover, in 5 of the last 6 head-to-head meetings, the "Dragons" have consistently lost on their home ice. We believe this trend remains relevant. Our key bet is Avtomobilist's victory in regulation time.