Prediction and Picks for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl vs CSKA Moscow Hockey 18 February 2023

When making a prediction for Lokomotiv, the first thing we will highlight is the team's five-match winning streak. Moreover, in this segment, the Yaroslavl team missed only two goals - from Amur (2-1) and CSKA (4-1). The match in Moscow "railwaymen" started from a position of strength, which resulted in a goal by Maxim Shalunov in the 9th minute. But it was not possible to achieve a greater advantage, and after the break the opponent responded with his goal. The fate of the meeting was decided in the last 20 minutes, when Igor Nikitin's wards threw three unanswered goals into the favorite's goal. Alexander Polunin led the Yaroslavl team forward, Ivan Chekhov increased the gap, and Rushan Rafikov completed the rout. Thus, Loko rose to second place in the table. 

When forming a prediction for CSKA, let's say that the recent results of the guests are noticeably more modest than those of their future opponent. There were two victories in a row over Avangard (2-1) and Dynamo Moscow (3-2), but the white streak was interrupted in a meeting with the "railwaymen". As already noted, the "army men" rolled into the game for a long time and left for the first break, losing in the score. In the second period, Sergey Fedorov's guys became more active, began to create sharpness, so Mikhail Grigorenko's goal completely followed from the logic of the game. But the capital club failed the final segment and as a result, for the first time since the end of January, it lost so big.