Malmo and Moscow match up for third time in four games to (almost) determine Victory Cup

[scoop 3,382]

With just a handful of games remaining, three teams still have a shot at the Victory Cup, with the final outcome heavily relying on one game between the Malmo Nighthawks and the Moscow Menace. The two teams have been familiar with each other as of late, as they recently had a back-to-back set. Malmo won both contests, despite being heavily outshot in both games, to keep their Victory Cup hopes alive. The combined shot totals in the two games was 106 for Moscow to 64 for Malmo. Nighthawk netminder Jorgen Lovstrom let in just two goals as the Malmo penalty kill unit thwarted all 17 Moscow power plays. With victories by scores of 2-0 and 5-2, the Nighthawks paved the way for another meaningful game as both teams took care of business in their next game.

 

The Menace are currently in first place with 104 points. Malmo is just behind them at 103, while Riga, at 102, is still not out of the race. The game between Moscow and Malmo does not 100% determine the Victory Cup winner, because both teams will still have one game left to play after, but they both play last place Prague. Obviously the Phantoms could play spoiler, but the odds are highly in favor of both Moscow and Malmo winning their final game.

 

1. If Malmo wins in regulation, the Nighthawks will finish in first place (assuming they beat Prague)
2. If Malmo wins in overtime/shootout, the Menace will finish in first place (assuming they beat Prague)
3. If Moscow wins, the Menace will finish in first place regardless of the outcome of any other game.

 

As noted, the Moscow/Malmo will not immediately determine who wins the Victory Cup. While a Moscow win would clinch it for the Menace, scenarios one and two as listed above still rely on a team beating Prague. In a situation where Malmo beats Moscow, if one of them beats Prague while the other doesn't, then the team that beat the Phantoms would finish in first. Both of them losing to Prague is the only way in which Riga will come out on top.

 

For Riga to win the Victory Cup, all of the following would have to happen:

1. Riga wins their final two games (Calgary and Toronto)
2. Malmo wins against Moscow
3. Malmo and Moscow both lose to Prague

 

If you were wondering about the Legion, they are out of the Victory Cup race. They can get to 105 points if they win their final three, which would at best put them in a tie for first place (because one of Moscow or Malmo will have to win their matchup). Toronto would lose the tiebreaker to the other contending teams.

 

For Malmo, winning the Victory Cup would give them three in the last four seasons. They have proven, however, that regular season success does not always carry over to the post-season. Moscow from a season ago really accentuate that point, as they had the worst record among playoff teams but went on to win the Continental Cup.

[Lemorse7 966]

1 hour ago, scoop said:

For Riga to win the Victory Cup, all of the following would have to happen:

1. Riga wins their final two games (Calgary and Toronto)
2. Malmo wins against Moscow
3. Malmo and Moscow both lose to Prague

no thx I give u the curse cup