Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk - Hc Sochi predictions and free betting tips [12/10/2023]

Continental Hockey League regular tournament 2023/2024. The concluding match of an otherwise quiet game day will be the clash in Nizhnekamsk. Where Neftekhimik will host the team from the Black Sea coast, namely HC Sochi.

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

The first and most crucial aspect to understand when betting on this match is that for Neftekhimik, this is their second game in two days. As per NHL betting guidelines, it's advised not to bet on a team playing back-to-back days. There's a high likelihood that a fresher opponent may overpower a team playing less than 24 hours ago. Furthermore, considering Neftekhimik lies at the bottom of the tournament table of the Eastern conference, one should contemplate this carefully. After 15 matches, Neftekhimik occupies the last place with 11 points. Neftekhimik has this season won two matches in regular time, two games beyond regular time, and managed to grab points from three overtime defeats. Its remaining eight matches were lost in regular time. Neftekhimik's frightful stats of goals scored and conceded - a meagre 33 goals scored (ranked second from the bottom) and a whopping 59 goals conceded (the worst in the league) with a difference of -26, is shocking for any hockey enthusiast. To top it off, this is their second game in two days.

HC Sochi

Despite two consecutive losses against Severstal (score 1:10) and CSKA (2:3 in overtime), HC Sochi still resides in the upper part of the Western conference table, specifically at the fifth spot. After 16 matches, they have gained 21 points. They achieved this through nine victories in the regular time, two matches finishing beyond regular time (one win and one loss), and the remaining five encounters were lost in regular time without earning points. It's worth noting that despite being fifth, Sochi concedes a lot of goals - 57 in total which is the third-worst rate from the bottom, but they have scored 50 goals which is quite a strong performance. However, the goal difference isn't ideal for a top-5 conference team, mainly due to two hefty defeats with an aggregate score of 2:17.

Head-to-Head

Neftekhimik and HC Sochi have faced each other 24 times. In these encounters, HC Sochi has won 13 times, whereas Neftekhimik has 11 wins. The teams haven't played against each other this season yet.

Prediction

It's surprising that despite their positions in the tournament table, Neftekhimik is still the favourite going into this match, with odds at 2.17, while Pinnacle offers 2.24 for HC Sochi. It is indeed worth considering a victory for HC Sochi, as Neftekhimik is playing back-to-back games, and Sochi will be seeking to make up for their two recent losses.