Traktor Chelyabinsk vs Sibir Novosibirsk Prediction

🔊 Will Vadim Yepanchintsev's squad handle the increased pressure towards them? The "Snowmen" have celebrated only 1 victory in their last 7 matches. However, it must be noted that the Novosibirsk club has been quite unlucky - in 4 instances, the "Siberians" lost beyond regular time. The encounter with the leader of the "East" at the "Traktor Arena" is a big test for Yepanchintsev's team. Bookmakers predict a convincing victory for the hosts: Traktor win - 1.72, Sibir success - 4.4.

📊 H2H

In the current calendar year, the "Traktorists" have already upset the "Snowmen" (4:3 after shootouts) on the ice of the "Sibir Arena". The previous 2 head-to-head matches of the teams this season also ended in favor of the "Polar Bears" (5:4, 5:0).

⚪ TRAKTOR

It seems that Traktor has managed to regain its early-season form. Benoit Groulx made some adjustments to his team's game after some instability in results. Firstly, the "Traktorists" abandoned overly impulsive hockey in favor of rationality and restraint. Secondly, the coach of the "Polar Bears" gave more freedom to the attacking group players. The line of Goryunov-Rolgiszer - Svetlakov - Kravtsov looks unstoppable. This is especially true for the latter. The 25-year-old former Rangers and Vancouver player has been scoring points over the last 6 matches.

❄️ SIBIR

In their last encounter, the "Snowmen" once again lost in a post-match shootout series - CSKA (3:4). Now Vadim Yepanchintsev and company are only 3 points away from the 9th place in the "East". Strict hockey does not always allow the "Siberians" to be satisfied with earned points. In some cases, the Novosibirsk team simply lacked persistence and dynamic segments. However, newcomer Brendan Leipsic cannot go unnoticed. After 8 matches in the "Snowmen" jersey, the Canadian forward managed to score 9 points.

🔗 PROBABLE LINEUPS

Traktor: Fucale - Kampfer, Koromyslov - Robinson, Glotov, Shabanov

Sibir: Krasotkin - Alanov, Murphy - Leipsic, Endroff, Beck

🥅 GOALIES

Few in the league can compete with Zachary Fucale in ensuring the safety of his own net. In this regular season, the 33-year-old goalie participated in 33 matches for his team. During this period, he managed to save 92.36% of shots with a reliability coefficient of 2.03.

Anton Krasotkin is once again enjoying significant trust from Sibir's coaching staff. It can be confidently said that the 27-year-old goalie looked quite worthy in recent meetings with Lokomotiv (2:3 after shootouts) and CSKA (3:4 after shootouts). The average statistical indicators were as follows (90.39% of shots saved, GAA - 3.03).

📝 MATCH PREDICTION

Traktor does not perform well in home matches - only 29 points after 22 games (6th result in the "West"). Meanwhile, the Novosibirsk team regularly causes significant problems for top KHL clubs. And the fiery form that Brendan Leipsic is currently in will only help the "Snowmen" achieve their goals in the upcoming encounter. Our pick - Sibir victory with a handicap (+1.5).