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Atlant won right after they changed coach

The changing of a coach has had a positive effect on Atlant, who defeated the strong Donbass and today they have a chance for a second victory against one of the weakest teams in the league.

After a disappointing start of the season with five consecutive losses, the coach of Atlant, Sergej Svetlov, was suspended and his assistant, Aleksej Kudashov, scored a victory in his first match.

This change has obviously had a positive effect on the team because they won their first match this season against Donbass, who played great. This was a great defensive game played by both teams and the goalkeepers were the main players. Engqvisto scored the only goal in the second period wining his team three points. The goalkeeper Galimov had a shutout, he has not recieved a single goal against Dondass and they defended themselves in all three situations when they one player less on ice.

They have no choice but to continue with the victories because they cant afford to stay behind the playoff crowd at the beginning of the season. It would be different if Atlant were not a gifted and powerful team and the weaker opponent coming to them today is a great opportunity for them to confirm that thry are. For now, they are bad in powerplay which is only 5% this season and they have a lot of work to do.

- We needed a good shake-up. We desperately needed to get our emotions stirred because we started falling into a depression after the fifth loss, but this has waken us up. We apologize to the fans for our bad performance, especially because they are so great and we have to repay that - said the offence player of Atlant Eugen Artyuhin

Atlant did not defeat Dinamo Minski in the last three matches, but the home team is not as strong as last season. They are one of the weakest teams in the west and this is an ideal opportunity for Atlant for a victory, raising their confidence and getting a simile back to the faces of their fans. They have no problems in regard of absences.

Dinamo Minsk, as was anticipated before the season, are not a team to be feared. They are very limited with no real stars, with no game density and, sadly, they won't be nowhere near the playoff this season. All the major players abandoned them in the summer. The new players are nowhere near as good to be a decent replacement and it's not looking good for Minsk this season.

They'we had five loses in six games. They won on the home court against the weaker Slovan who played terribly. They were defeated in the last two visits to Severstal and by SKA where they had no chance of winning. Although they had 36 shots on the goal, that did not help them to score a single goal and they missed three powerplays. They received a goal in two out of four situations where they had one player less and they did not do so well when they were complete. The result was realistic. They can't compare to the stronger teams, especially as visitors and Atlant is a favorite in today's match.

They are terrible when it comes to special units. Powerplay is at 11% while they are the worst in the league in penalty killing which is at a modest 68% which means that every player's advantage is against them by half a goal. They also scored just eight goals in six matches which is the worst result in the league.

- The match with SKA is just an experience for us. We can't expect points against the leader of the league. We have a lot of problems with the realization and that is our biggest flaw. But at least have been creating some opportunities lately - said the coach of Dinamo Alexander Andrievskiy

The two players that they're missing are Kaznadei and Surovy who is nominally the second center of the team and this is where they might have problems in rotation, but this is still not such a disadvantage. Although they have a good ratio with Atlas lately, because of their situation, the weakened team, they are far from the role of favorite in this match. 

Atlant opened their season in catastrophic manner and coach Svetlov paid for that by being replaced before the game against Donbass. That move worked since they won against the Ukrainian team, a team that is at least one step higher in quality than Dinamo. The team admitted they were shook by the change and that it was a positive shock for them and that their depression is over. Today they have a chance to continue their win streak against weaker opponent. They played perfect defense against Dombass and I expect the same from them in this game since Dinamo is one of the weakest teams in the league and they have five defeats in six games and three scoreless defeats on the road, which is more important information. They lost all important players this summer and the team is without a star, which significantly limits their game in road games. This is the perfect situation for Atlant since they promised their fans they will start playing better and asked for their forgiveness. I do not think they will ruin everything against such weak opponent, especially since their opponent is not playing good. Everything but a decisive win by Atlant would be a great surprise here since Atlant is quality-wise at least two steps ahead of their today's opponent.