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Unsteady Omsk visiting Spartak, who are in dire need of points

The home team have not had a clean win in four rounds, and although they twice managed to win in overtime, they are not pleased, and are going for three points, encouraged by Omsk's for losses in a row

After an excellent season opening, Spartak have been a bit wobbly for the last few games. They started off with five wins in six games, but over the last three have had two losses and one barely won game vs Severstal, where they played criminal defense and took four goals.

However, they also showed offensive spirit, took a win, and were clearly expected to carry that over to the home game vs Avtomobilist, but the exact opposite happened. Spartak completely failed, playing a completely even game with their guests from Ekaterinburg, and then lost on penalty shootouts. They took the lead in the second period, after Krutov scored a goal, but held it for just one minute. A team with famous names and playoff candidate such as Spartak should not lose vs one of the weaker teams of the league.

Their six games place them fourth in the conference, but their game is less than stellar lately. They can take pride in their good defense, as they take only two goals per game, and are one of the best teams of the league in boxplay (91%), and those are their main strengths this season.

-We played our worst match of the season vs Avtomobilist, and wee must own up to that. We were not focused enough, we were not strong enough, and that had to reflect on the game. It is always more interesting to play stronger teams, but these things should not happen. We haven't won a game in full time over four games now, its is about time we got one- said Spartak defender, Andrei Sergeev.

They are still playing without Ryazantsev, who is determined to leave the club, and Zheldakov, but are used to it. Their last game was a debut for the great Nikolai Zherdev, who was brought in as a reinforcement a few days ago, and their offense should be even stronger with him. He gives Spartak's offense extra depth, and they've also brought in defender Klementev, who should strengthen the play on the blue line. All things considered, they are entering the match as favorites, although they have not fared great vs Omsk so far.

The guests from Omsk have been defeated for the fourth consecutive time on Sunday. Coach Milos Riha is not a miracle-worker, so he did not manage to turn arround the team in just a few hours. For those who need reminding, the Czech expert replaced Petri Matikainen  last Friday, but arrived to Omsk Sunday morning, and was already on the bench vs Ugra in the afternoon. All he had time for was to confirm that the team are in very bad shape.

By the end of the second period they were already trailing by four goals, and the match was a done deal. They failed to use any of their six power-plays. They did manage to limit Ugra to only 20 shots on goal, but that did not help, as their goalie, Teemu Lassila, is in terrible form. He only managed a 70,6 save percentage. The goalkeeper coach Passi Nurminen was fired after the game, but Lassila is still on the team.

He did travel to the away tour with them, but he probably won't continue as their primary goalkeeper. Omsk are allegedly in active pursuit of a new goalie, and after he arrives Lassila is supposed to be shown the door. However, until a substitution is found, they cannot gamble as their only other options are the youngsters Denis Kostin and Eduard Reizvikh. The second of the two will probably be starting today.

-We had a good five days to prepare. I told the boys that those who don't put in the work will get on the team- said Riha, confirming also that they are looking for a new goalkeeper.

He will certainly be looking for much better defense as  well. Omsk have take 21 goal over the last four rounds, and are currently averaging 4.25, making them the worst defense of the league. An ever worse statistic is that of their away games, which they all lost, with a 3 goals given to 15 taken. Riha has had a week to improve the main faults of his new team, but whether anything can be significantly improved in such a short time is another issue.

Omsk are in disastrous form, having lost four away games in a row, and conceded 21 goal in the process. The reason for this are their two young and inexperienced goalkeepers, none of whom is particularly reliable. They are looking for a new goalkeeper, and losing games while they search, as I believe they will today. Omsk have not won a single point in an away game this season, and they lost all their games in regular time, which speaks volumes of the problems they've been having. Spartak on the other hand are a hit in the West, they have massively reinforced their team and are now an absolute favorite for the top of the Conference ranking. A few days ago they brought in Zherdev, who will probably play today, and Klementev as a defensive reinforcement, and are much bigger favorites than the odds suggest. They're in solid form and in my opinion are the absolute favorite to win against the away team, and should the game go to overtime and penalty shootouts by any chance, Spartak also have Glass, an excellent goalkeeper, giving them a great advantage over the youngsters on the other goal. I think this gives us great odds for a great bet.