Ak Bars Kazan - Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg predictions and free betting tips [02/03/2024]

Gagarin Cup Playoffs in the Kontinental Hockey League 2024. First round. Eastern Conference. The series score is 0:1. The second match of the day is set to be an evenly matched face-off looking at the regular season standings, where the fourth and fifth-placed teams of the conference are playing. Ak Bars from Kazan are going to face Avtomobilist from Yekaterinburg.

Ak Bars Kazan

Against all rumours and fears, the Kazan club has returned to the Tatneft Arena for the playoffs. Unfortunately, this did not help them in the first match. The clash turned out to be an arduous watch for Ak Bars fans with a minimum of pucks and moments. The Kazan team struggled to convert their chances, despite having significantly more than their opponent.

Ak Bars managed to score only once, while the opponent capitalised on both of their opportunities. Goal conversion has been a predominant issue for the Kazan team. No matter how one evaluates their system or other aspects, the bottom line is, without conversion of chances, there can be no favourable outcome. Despite losing the first match, Ak Bars remains the favourite of this series.

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

Avtomobilist, in my opinion, played flawlessly, it's quite hard to imagine a more gruelling and heavy game. The decisions made in the match reflected the hierarchy set up in the team by Nikolai Zavarukhin, the coach. Everyone seems to have accepted the way they play, and in the first match, it yielded results. Excellent execution - two power plays and a splendid defence that stopped the opponent from scoring more than one goal.

Despite several missed opportunities for scoring by the Kazan club, Avtomobilist is sure to stick to their approach in the second match. However, there is a fear that their opponents' execution will not prove so arduous, as it did in the first match. This may require Avtomobilist to score more.

Head-to-Head Matches

Ak Bars Kazan and Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg have played 55 matches against each other. The Kazan club won 36 of these, while the team from Yekaterinburg secured 19 wins. This season, Ak Bars has three victories with scores of 3:2, 2:1, and 4:1. Avtomobilist has one win in regular time (2:1) and one more from the day before yesterday by the same score.

Prediction

Interestingly, in the first match, Ak Bars was even the bigger favourite with odds of 1.90 for their victory, whereas now the betting firm Betsiti offers odds of 2.02 for the Kazan club's victory. Actually, I propose to place a bet on the victory of Ak Bars. I hardly believe that Ak Bars can lose both home matches to this team from Sverdlovsk region.

Total Prediction

This leads to my total prediction. I propose to take an ITO1 (2.5) at an odds of 2.07. The Kazan team should have scored this much in the first match, but poor realization and bad fortune stood in their way.