betprepare.com

Novokuznetsk continue their bleak run

The home team have suffered 14 successive defeats. They haven't won a match since early September. Omsk have evidently picked up in form and they have a real chance to snatch all three points in this match

Novokuznetsk continued to break negative records in the Kontinental Hockey League on Thursday. The club with the smallest budget in the league recorded their 14th successive defeat in the match against Barys. The last time they won was in early September, in the second round. They even played a decent match against the Kazakhs. They quickly went down, but then they twice managed to fight back and take a lead. But the individual quality of the opponent team was crucial. This was obvious when they took a 3-2 lead just to concede an equalizer in the very next action. In the final stages of the match Barys showed just why they are one of the top ranked teams in the East Conference. 

- For two periods we played a leveled match against one of the best teams in the league. We made some elementary mistakes at 3-2 lead, which we lost the match for... Now we can only work, work and work. I will demand a more aggressive game from my players. I've only been in the club for a short while so they obviously haven't started responding to my demands - the coach German Titov stated.

The goalie position is a problem that will obviously remain an issue for Novokuznetsk for some time. The first goaltender Niko Hovinen will miss the next three weeks at least, due to concussion, while the reserve options simply don't match his quality. Nikita Lozhkin conceded four goals despite his solid performance, recording 86.7% of saves. And the only alternative to this goalie is the 18-year old Ilya Sorokin. 

The home team supporters seem to have lost faith in their team as the arena stood empty during the match against Barys. The impression is that the team of Novokuznetsk as it is has simply not reached the required level to play in the KHL and there's increasing speculation that they will move to a lower league next season. 

Although the figures show Omsk have notched only two wins in the last 13 matches, the progress the team has made in form has been noticeable ever since they fired the goaltender Teemu Lassila and brought an experienced duo of goaltenders Mezin - Garon. The Czech coach Milos Riha had been facing many problems, but he managed to lay out their game in defense. The new goalies have ensured more security for the wing players, so that now Omsk face fewer shots on goal. 

They lost to Siberia on Thursday even though they made a better impression on the ice. In his second match for the team, Mathieu Garon had 92.3% of saves. He wasn't that busy given he only faces 24 shots on goal. Omsk fires 36 shots, but lacked conversion. We can say they didn't deserve to lose with a minimum score, but Siberia have been conceding very few goals lately so it's no wonder the Omsk offense ran into so many problems.

- Siberia are a really good team and we're not ashamed of our performance - Riha was brief, adding the new reinforcement in offense, Stefan Ruzicka, will have his debut appearance.

There's no doubt Omsk have raised their form, but so far, they have conceded more goals than any other team thanks to their disastrous opening to the season. A lot of these could be put down to unsuccessful performances of the goalie Teemu Lassila. Despite all this, they are only three points away from the eighth place. In the all-Siberian match against Novokuznetsk they have a chance to snatch victory. So far they've let so many points slip that it's clear they will simply have to win matches like this if they want to ensure their place in the playoff as earlier as possible.

There's not much to say here. They should make use of Novokuznetsk's current situation. The main goalie and best player Nika Hovien's injury weakened them additionally so on Thursday they didn't manage to surprise Barys who were definitely playing at a lower level than usual. That was their 14th defeat in a row. Today, in my opinion, they're up for an even tougher job, despite the fact that Omsk are low in the table, and that they've won in two out of the last 13th matches. Since they've fired goalie Lassila and brought two experienced ones (Mazin-Garon), things have took a turn for the better. Coach Milos Riha needed more time, but he managed to arrange the defense. That was visible in the last four rounds. Against the strong Sibir two days ago they had to score a victory, but there was no realization. Defensively, they seemed stable. The new goalies obviously brought some sense of security in the back lines, and the offense is still one of the better ones in the East. Regarding the bad opening of the season, Omsk can't allow themselves to waste any other points in meetings like these. They have a better quality, they need the points, and I expect them to be highly motivated.