Severstal Cherepovec vs Avangard Omsk Prediction 8 January 2025

🔊 Will the "Hawks" manage to take revenge on the "Steelworkers" in the Cherepovets "Ice Palace"? Next Wednesday, Severstal will host Avangard on their home ice. Both teams are desperately fighting for a spot in the playoff round. Therefore, every point gained is crucial for both sides. Bookmakers predict an evenly matched hockey game without highlighting a favorite: victory for the "yellow-blacks" - 2.5, victory for the "Hawks" - 2.5.

📊 H2H

In early December, Avangard hosted Severstal on their home ice. The "Steelworkers" managed to upset the local fans by securing a comeback victory with a score of 4:2. The last clear victory for the "Lynxes" over the "Hawks" in Cherepovets dates back to the 2010/11 season (3:1).

🟡 SEVERSTAL

Recently, Severstal achieved a crucial victory over Moscow Spartak (5:3). This success allowed Andrey Kozyrev's team to move above Dinamo Minsk in the standings and return to the 6th position. The "Steelworkers" now have 52 points. The "Lynxes" also stand out with their decent penalty killing performance - 84.7% successful neutralizations (4th best in the KHL). The leaders of the "black and yellows" in this regular season are Kirill Pilipenko (19+19) and Daniil Aimurzin (23+13).

🔴 AVANGARD

Omsk Avangard started the new calendar year strongly. Following a convincing victory over Neftekhimik (5:1), they secured a hard-fought away win against Kazan Ak Bars (3:1). Guy Boucher and company are now in 6th place in the standings with 43 points. What the "Hawks" excel at is their excellent attacking play - approximately 2.71 goals per game (4th best in the East). Additionally, the Omsk team is extremely dangerous on the power play - 24.3% successful attempts (2nd best in the KHL). The top scorers in the current stretch of the regular season are Damir Sharipzyanov (6+25), Reid Boucher (16+12), and Nail Yakupov (14+11).

🔗 PROBABLE LINEUPS

Severstal: Shostak - Dyblenko, Barberio - Pilipenko, Aimurzin, Ilyin

Avangard: Serebryakov - Sharipzyanov, Chistyakov - Yakupov, Prokhorkin, Igumnov

🥅 GOALIES

Konstantin Shostak has yet to achieve his first shutout in this regular season. The 24-year-old goalie has played 23 matches this season with the following average efficiency stats: 90.33% save percentage, GAA - 2.58.

Nikita Serebryakov has seamlessly integrated into Omsk Avangard's lineup. Now, the 29-year-old goalie is an indispensable figure between the posts for the new coaching staff. After 11 matches played in the "Hawks" jersey, Serebryakov's stats are as follows: 92.71% save percentage, GAA - 2.52.

📝 MATCH PREDICTION

In 7 out of Avangard's last 9 games, at least 6 goals were scored. With the arrival of the new coaching staff, the trend towards an attacking playstyle in Omsk is likely to continue. In 8 of the last 9 head-to-head encounters between the "Hawks" and the "Steelworkers," there were at least 5 accurate shots. It seems that the most rational event is as follows - total over 4.5 goals.