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Medvescak are looking to collect points against a team that haven't won an away game yet

Medvescak have won 8 of their last 9 games in the Ice Arena, while Novokuznjeck got only 2 points from their last 11 away games

After coming home and beating Amur, the Bears have hosted Admiral in their second game but things didn't go so well as against club from Habarovsk. They did win, however, but only after penalty shootout in which Matt Ellison brought home an additional point.

It all started rather well, Jessiman scored the goal to take the lead in the first period, Elisson's powerplay goal increased the lead to 2 and it seemed Medvescak were cruising towards another win but then came a shock at the start of third period. They allowed 2 goals in the first 5 minutes, one of those from boxplay  and the game went to over-time. Medvescak were a better team for the first two periods, they played really well, they outshot their opponents but they simply had to close that game down better, that over-time should not have happened. 

- Unfortunately, we haven't won any of our latest away games, and since we have 3 more games before the international break, we want to win all 3 in front of our fans. We've won two two games so far which is a good start of this run. Only one more game to go... - said Medvescak's defenseman Mark Popovic.

- It would be nice to win after those stupid sending offs, we are glad the boys pulled me through, penalty kill was doing great all evening. Those sending offs are not something normal for me and I will try to prevent them from happening in the future - said goalie Barry Brust who got sent off 3 times during the game, which certainly didn't help his team. 

Brust made up for three sending offs with 3 saves in the shootout that brought Medvescak a well-deserved point that put them in fifth spot of the Western conference. Generally speaking, it was a good game for them with some minor errors, but they did great. Since Novokuznetsk are perhaps the weakest team to come to the Ice Arena, they shouldn't have too many problems winning this game if they keep this up. 

 Letang and  Klubertanz are still out, and Foster and Linglet missed the last game with minor injuries but Medvescak coped without them. 

The crowd in Zagreb will see the last-placed team of the league. Novokuznjeck have managed to collect only 16 points so far. This is a team that almost set the league record for number of games lost. They stopped at 14.

The managed to win against Omsk somehow and then they even beat Ugra only to re-enter the black run of four defeats. A huge advantage for the home team lies in the fact that Novokuznjeck have not won a single away game this season, that is, they lost all 11 games and only got 2 points from them (18-41 goal difference).

Their last defeat came against Dinamo Minsk when they took the lead in the middle of the first period and later held the tied score until the last period when they conceded 2 goals in a matter of minutes and then another one with 6 seconds to go. They deservedly lost as Dinamo left a far better impression. They outshot  by 39-25. 

- You can't win a game if only one of your lines plays the way it should. The remaining players were simply not up to the task - said coach German Titov.

Their main line was a particular flop in which four players had a -3 efficiency and one even had -4. Goalie Niko Hovinen didn't play bad but his defense didn't exactly help him (89,5 % saves), but considering he was between the sticks in two games in which they conceded 5 goals per game, there is a big possibility that 18-year old Ilja Sorokin will start, a player many people consider one of the biggest prospects in Russian hockey. 

Forward and club captain Aleksej Kosourov has recovered from his injury, but the important defenseman Mihail Kukljev will probably miss this game as well. 

The weakest club in the KHL is coming to the Ice Arena today, and I'm convinced they won't fare well. It's a team with not even a single away win, and it's questionable whether they will have any by the end of the season. They lost seven out of 11 away games in handicap this season, and conceded 10 goals in the last two games. The weak Dinamo Minsk scored five goals against them in the last round, and I have no doubts about Medvescak winning this one with a two-goal difference. The guests are a bit tired already, and Medvescak simply have to charge for the win, and get three points before the break. Play-off battle will be tough, and there's no room for errors. The bears will be really motivated here, they've won eight out of last nine games in their own arena, making it almost invincible, and it's hard to imagine Novokuznetsk posing a threat to them on their home ice. Medvescak generate a lot of shots against stronger teams, and the guests allow many shots and have a lot weaker defense than, let's say, Admiral - Medvescak had 48 shots to Admiral's goal. I don't doubt Medvescak's mood, they have to win this one, and I'm positive it will be a convincing win because the difference in quality is huge.