January 28, 19:15, Pinki, Inbox Ice Arena.
Ahead of the penultimate game of January, Oleg Tymchenko’s team comes in with more transfer news. Following Czech defenseman Daniel Klinecky, the Kyiv roster has been strengthened by Ukrainian national team forward Mykhailo Kovalchuk. It is quite possible that we will see him in action already this evening.
The situation at the top of the Optibet League remains stable, with the gap between first and fourth place still standing at three points. However, this balance may be disrupted, as Mogo/RSU and Liepaja will face each other today.
At the same time, our upcoming opponent is engaged in a determined battle for a playoff spot. Thanks to victories over Prizma (8:6) and HS Riga (4:2) in their last two games, the Estonian side has climbed to sixth place with 20 points. Now, the team coached by Mikko Maenpaa will aim for even more.
Nevertheless, the head-to-head statistics are entirely in favor of the Kyiv Capitals. All three previous meetings ended in victories for the Kyiv side (2:1, 8:3, 10:1), with the margin growing each time. The most recent matchup even set a new scoring record in this rivalry.
In games between the Kyiv Capitals and Panter, Lauris Bajaruns (4+2) and Yang Hu (1+5) have each recorded six points for our team. For the Tallinn-based club, Nikita Puzakov has two points (1+1).
Overall, Puzakov is also Panter’s leading scorer this season with 24 points (9+15). For Oleg Tymchenko’s team, Martins Karsums further strengthened his position after the game in Elektrenai, reaching 37 points (15+22).
So, we will see which side executes its game plan better in this matchup and whether the Kyiv Capitals can extend their winning run.
