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Novokuznetsk with a new coach against Lokomotiv

Former coach Kitov was forced to leave after losing 9 consecutive matches and dropping to the last place of the Eastern Conference.

After four consecutive away matches Lokomotiv is finally back at home. They looked pretty bad on their first two away matches and they failed to score a single goal. But, they improved significantly on the next two and won both of them. Now, they are very close to the playoff positions on the table.

After  winning against Podolsk they won their away match against very strong Dinamo (the defending champion) and that game could prove to be a real turning point for Lokomotiv this season. That was probably their best performance so far. They looked very good on the ice, especially in the defense (Lokomotiv conceded only one goal very late in the match). Yokovlev gave them the lead with two goals in the second period, and early in the third they scored another one.

- That was the best performance since I took over the team. My players really wanted to win this one and that was the key. That was a very important victory for us and we need to continue to play like that - Lokomotiv's coach Peter Vorobyov said.

Their penalty killing was excellent that day (5/5) but they failed to turn any of their own powerplays into goals (0/7). Luckily for them, their offense was very good when they played 5-on-5. Normally they score lots of goals from powerplays (their powerplay percentage is one of the best in the league) and they special units often get their job done, but that wasn't the case in the match against Dinamo.


Kolarov is the only player unavailable to the coach Vorobyov for today's match. Goalie Sanford is constantly improving his form and now they face an ideal opponent to extend their streak of good results.

The main story in the away team is that head-coach Alexander Kitov was forced to leave the club due to bad performances. His replacement is German Titov, a former NHL player and Kitov's assistant. Novokuznetsk was the fourth in the league club to change their coach this season, and the board definitely had a solid reason for that.

They lost nine consecutive matches and they looked awful on the ice. For example, in the last game against Dinamo they failed to score a single goal despite having 35 shots on goal. They are very inefficient in the attack this whole season, and their defensive performances are not much better. Goalie Niko Hovinen is the only bright spot in the club, but he can't really win them matches all by himself.


Novokuznetsk have a very young team and for lots of their players this is the first season in KHL. They are also experiencing some financial difficulties and it is now largely speculated that we won't see them in the KHL next year. Allegedly, a lots of players are unhappy and it is quite possible that Kitov won't be the only person leaving the club this season.

They lost all four of their away matches this season and they conceded a total of 18 goals on those matches. They are now holding the last place on the table in the Eastern Conference and they have the second-worst attack in the league.

The away team lost their last 9 matches and 6 out of those 9 ended with a handicap. Even more importantly, they lost four away matches in the regular time and three of those were with a handicap. So, Novokuznetsk is probably the weakest team in the competition right now. On the other side, Lokomotiv are clearly improving their form. They won their last two games against Severstal and, even more importantly, they won the away match against the defending champion Dynamo in the last round. That has certainly lifted their spirits. They won with ease against Minsk last time they performed in front of their own crowd and I expect to see a similar performance today. They didn't start the season in a good way, but they are still a very tough opponent for everyone and especially for Novokuznetsk. They showed a great fighting spirit against Dynamo and in front of their own crowd they should perform even better. Lokomotiv really need to win this one and it would be foolish not to make this bet with the odds the bookmakers are giving.