Nizhny Novgorod put three past Sochi on Wednesday evening, closing out a clean victory in the KHL. The match ended 3:0 after the final buzzer. It was the sort of result that settles a table early on.
And here's the thing — we had this one locked in before kick-off. We gave the hosts a 63 per cent chance, and they did not disappoint. The confidence was not misplaced, and the performance reflected that. To be fair, they looked sharp from the opening whistle.
Nizhny sit third after seven games, with five wins and two losses. Sochi occupy eleventh after six outings, one victory and five defeats. Both sides carry zero points in their columns, which means the season is still finding its shape. By then, the gap between them was already clear on the ice.
The hosts came into this with momentum. They had beaten Avangard 5:1 on Tuesday, after a narrow loss to CSKA and a win over Bars Kazan. Sochi's recent run told a different story — a heavy defeat to Novosibirsk, losses to CSKA and SKA, and only a single win against Bars Kazan. The contrast was stark.
The result keeps Nizhny in the upper half and pushes Sochi further down. Three points on the board for the hosts, none for the visitors. It is early days, but the message from Wednesday was not subtle.
