Avangard Omsk vs Traktor Chelyabinsk Prediction 18 October 2026

A win over Avtomobilist finally lifted Avangard off the bottom of the Eastern Conference. However, it’s too early to say they’ve put their struggles behind them. Guy Boucher’s side have taken four victories from their last seven outings, but they continue to alternate promising performances with disappointing ones. Before returning home, the Omsk club suffered a heavy 1-5 defeat to Barys, despite opening the scoring. Defensive reliability remains a concern-over their last five games, Avangard have conceded an average of 2.4 goals per game. On the bright side, they still have games in hand, so even a short winning streak could significantly boost their position in the standings. Yegor Afanasyev and Maxim Lajoie are back in the lineup, which is crucial given their injury woes. Alexander Volkov, Nicolas Lehoux, and Nikolay Prokhorkin are sidelined, while Cedric Paquette remains out of action.

Against Avtomobilist, Avangard were slow to seize control. The visitors started on the front foot and kept the hosts pinned in their own zone, but Avangard capitalized on their first power play as Michael McLeod found the net. The Canadian forward doubled his tally soon after, finishing off a rebound from an Afanasyev shot. In the second period, Daniel Sprong pulled one back for Avtomobilist, who continued to dominate possession and offensive time. The turning point came early in the third: Nail Yakupov intercepted the puck, Konstantin Okulov set up Vasily Ponomarev for a crucial goal to extend the lead. Later, McLeod sealed his first KHL hat-trick with an empty-netter. The final score read 4-2, though Avangard trailed 27-31 in shots on goal and spent just 9:28 in attack compared to Avtomobilist’s 14:54. It was an important victory, but far from flawless. Against Traktor, similar stretches without goals could prove costly.

Traktor remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, having lost four of their last five games. The matchups against Amur were particularly painful: two defeats by scores of 1-2 and 0-2, with just a single goal scored across 120 minutes of play. They also struggled to get past Sibir. Still, it would be premature to call Chelyabinsk’s situation hopeless. In their previous two outings, Scott Gordon’s side managed to score at least twice per game and even picked up a point against Neftekhimik. However, their attack still lacks the consistency needed to offset defensive lapses. Injuries have also hit hard, with Vitaly Kravtsov and Ivan Telegin both sidelined. In these circumstances, Mikhail Grigorenko’s contributions become especially vital-he’s already tallied 72 points in 81 games for Traktor.

In Nizhnekamsk, Traktor once again found themselves playing catch-up. Neftekhimik struck first just five minutes in, but Andrei Svetlakov quickly leveled the score-only for the hosts to reclaim the lead just 19 seconds later. Grigorenko converted on the power play in the second period to make it 2-2, marking his third goal in two games. Both teams created plenty of chances as the game wore on: Traktor fired 42 shots on target, while their opponents registered 44. Henrik Haukeland made several key saves to keep the visitors in it, but overtime proved costly. With three men forward, Chelyabinsk left German Tochilkin all alone against the goaltender, and he capitalized to seal a 3-2 defeat for Traktor-who took just a single point from the contest. Still, compared to their recent performances against Amur, Traktor’s offense showed far more initiative in this outing.