betprepare.com

Atlant beat Vityaz nine games in a row

This statistical fact helps Atlant, and also the fact that the away team are coming without two of their most important players

After a bad start of the season in a series of away games, Atlant started playing better at home, and the replacement of coach Svetlov who left the team three rounds ago helped. Atlant has three wins in a row now, are playing much better than at the beginning and they can be optimistic before their match against Vityaz.

After Donbass and Minsk they beat the tough Medvescak at home, who gave them a hard time in a very open match with a large number of strikes. The ratio was 46-41 in Atlant's favor who had the lead up until a minute before the end when the away team woke up and got the one points out of Atlant's pockets. The first two thirds were without goals, but in the third the game got heated, but everything was solved in overtime. Extra time didn't last very long because during the second minute Artyukhin scored a goal for the extra point.

Atlant deserved to win in the regular, but they were out of luck in the end. A lot of credit for the celebration has to go to goalkeeper Galimov with 95 percent of saves, and they played a good boxplay, defending themselves  all three times with one player less. If they lose today, Vityaz would get away by six points and they would distance themselves from the playoff zone, which wouldn't be good for them since the playoffs are their goal, the same being said Atlant's general director Aleksej Zhamnv who is also the coach right now:

- The playoffs are our clear goal for this season. This is a very important game for us, some kind of a Moscow derby, and by winning we would get closer to the best. Right now it's not important who we're playing against SKA or Vityaz, we have to go after the win. We didn't do well at the beginning of the season, but everything started to go in the right direction.

Atlant have no injury problems which is very important, and they beat Vityaz nine games in a row and by playing well in their areana, they're proving capable of continuing that run.

You can almost never know what to expect from Vityaz. They're a team full of oscillations. They concede six goals in Riga, but then they beat CSKA at home, proving they're not stable. Their success can be atributed to playing just three away matches out of nine, where they have one victory, against Slovan who were out of shape.

They played in Riga in the first two rounds where they played their worst game of the season, making fools out of themselves, butn in the last round they showed what they're capable of by beating the mighty CSKA. Although the away team had more shots, Vityaz were more concrete and by the end of the second third they scored three goals, one with an extra player and the guests couldn't catch up. In the final third they managed to defend themselves and fight off the opponents attacks for very valuable three points.

Their goalkeeper Lisutin was great, taking out 31 out of 33 shots for a 93% and thus kept his team in the game, they also played a great boxplay and defended themselves all four times tey were without a player. Granted, their boxplay is not the best, it's terrible with only 70 %, while their powerplay is even worse, just 5%.

- Every match is different, and CSKA's style obviously suited my players. It was a rough match against a tough opponent. We even got injured, but I'm very happy with the fight and with the new three points - said Vityaz's coach Jurij Leonov.

The very important striker Shitikov got a brain concussion at this game, which with the absence of first center Rybin is a serious striker handicap, and then there's the long absence of Bukhanko. Vityaz will have it hard in offense without the first two, especially against Atlant who have a very tough defense at home. 

Atlant has won nine games in a row vs Vityaz, of which only two in overtime, and statistics are always important. They won three home games in a row as well, they have changed their coach, shaken things up and their camp is announcing they will go for a win. They had two more days to rest than the guests, who played against CSKA, which might influence their speed and aggression on the ice. Vityaz have not been impressive away, scoring two extremely convincing losses so far and a win against the weak Slovan, and I see little chance for them here. The huge difference in quality, in all aspects, favors the home team. Along with all that, the guests are arriving without their captain Rybov, who is also their first center, and without starting lineup winger Shitikov as well, which could also be considered a handicap. Without two important offense players they will be weaker, they are more tired, and with all that aside, Atlant has a big advantage on home ice. These odds are a bit too high overall, and Atlant are the bigger favorites.