The match is starting soon, so I'll keep it short:

AK Bars has great offensive lines but somehow they are not on last year level, especially at he start of the season very problematic was first line with Zaripov, Zinoviev and Morozov. Still from time to time this team explodes and that is often the case in big matches.

CSKA with Vyacheslav Bykov as a coach is an offensive minded team with some great young talents like Parshin.

I see this one ending with results like 5-3 4-4 or 3-5

See other comment.

In first 13 home matches Severstal has recorded 10 unders and 3 overs (line 4,5).
In first 15 away matches SKA has recorded 6 unders and 9 overs (line 4,5) but with 6 matches ending with exactly 5 goals.

Severstal is in very bad run of results with 4 losses and 1 OT in last 5 matches (scoring only 6 goals in last 4 matches). They are the most uneffective home team in whole league and against one of the best defences of the league it will be very hard to find the goal. In these circumstances it is best to do what you do best and that is defending your own goal.

SKA is coming from a loss at home to Dynamo (2-3). Dynamo was lucky to score goals from rare defensive mistakes that SKA players made and SKA was much better after that but just couldn't score. I believe that today they will be more concentrated and that they won't give up easy goals. They are by far the best away side with a record of 11-1-3 so an away win could be also a good choice.

Slavia stands on the first spot two points ahead of Budejovice and Liberec. Those two teams were the only ones so far who managed to stay unbeaten in regulation in Sazka Arena. Slavia scored 55 goals at home (5.00 per match), while they conceded only 14 (1.27 per match). In last home match they recorded a first loss against Liberec after OT and I believe that they try hard to bounce back.
Today they'll miss Jaroslav Bednar F (9G+8A).

Plzen is second best team in offense as they scored 78 goals so far (12 less than Slavia). It could be unwise to keep this kind of style in Prague against Slavia as they could end up with lot's of pucks in their net. Furthermore, they will miss two best forwards (Duras Michal 14G+4A and Fabus Peter 9G+7A) which means they'll have to rely on their defense even more. I think that they'll find it hard to suddenly switch their play to a defensive one which will result in easy win for the hosts.
Another two forwards (Sindel Jakub 9G+1A and Matejovsky Radek 1G+1A) will be unable to help Plzen today and that leave them with very few options upfront.

Last two meetings between these two were won by Plzen in OT so that could be another motiv for Slavia players.

The situation in Linköping's HC
Mathias Carlsson RW (0G+1A) is still missing. Andreas Pihl D (2G+2A) is uncertain on playing, and he'll be tested on the game day. In objectives comes goalie Ratislav Stana to stand.

The situation in Brynäs IF
Antti Hulkkonen D drives rehab and is probably out right to the Christmas. Moreover is Markus Kankaanperä D (0G+2A) suspended after the game penalty in last match. Goalie Markus Korhonen is again available.

Linkopings will try to get a revange for a high loss (1-9) at the begining of the season. They are great home side for couple of seasons now and they have a record of 8-1-1, losing only to Djurgarden and getting a draw against Farjestads.

Brynas plays poorly this season and they'll had hard time getting into playoffs. Everybody excpected more from this team but they just share the last spot with Sodertalje at the moment.

Frisk is hot at home posting a record of 7-0-1 so far, losing only to Storhamar. They were extremly lucky to get a point in last match in Hamar scoring 3 times between 45th and 47th minute.

Valerenga is better on the road than at home and they have a record of 7-1-1, with only loss coming, suprisingly, against poor Stjernen.
These two have already met twice this season, both matches were in Oslo and both were won by Valerenga in OT.

I don't have much time today so only a short explanation

I just can't miss these odds on Storhamar, I mean Stavanger is not as good as they were last season. They will probably imrove and finish among first 6 teams but at this moment they are far from top form.

Storhamar is in some kind of downtrend failing to get a win in regulation for 3 times in last 4 matches. Still they were pretty unlucky in last couple home matches vs Sparta and Frisk.

First match between these two in Hamar finished 7-2 for the home side.

Budejovice are at the moment the best home side in Extraliga with only Slavia being able to overtake them as they have one match less played. Record stands at 8-2-0 with two draws against Liberec and Karlovy Vary. After a little crisis in their play and 5 losses in 6 matches Budejovice found the form they had at the start of the season winning last 3 matches.
They won last two home matches against Sparta (5-2 and 4-3) and also the last one in Prague (4-1) - the only meeting this season.

Last year champion Sparta is in the biggest crisis since the start of the season failing to record a win in regulation in last 6 matches. Last two matches were by far the worse performances for a long time and no excuses can be found for two home losses - one in OT to Kladno and the other in last match to last placed Slovan.
Sparta has a problem with first goalie Tomas Duba who came back injured from Karjala Cup. That is why they made a deal with Martin Altrichter but he isn't on the same level as Duba.

Sparta has one of the best rosters in the league and it is just matter of time when they found their form but at the moment I just can't resist of putting my money on Budejovice.

Valerenga has won 25 Norwegian Championships during the years and is the main candidate to do it once again.
After 3 losses in 4 matches Valerenga recorded two shotout victories against league worst teams - Trondheim and Lillehammer. It should still be enough to get their morale up again and to start a new winning streak. Valerenga often underestimate its opponenets and that is the main reason for losing some matches. Anyway Sparta is not a team which should be underestimated, and I believe Valerenga players will do their best to cut Sparta's 8 matches winning streak.

Usually Sparta ends up from 4-6, but this season they're offensive and are looking for the top spots. They are certainly flying high with this 8 matches winning streak but as I said they aren't that impressive on the road as they are at home. Out of these 8 matches they played 4 away winning 3 of those by just 1 goal difference.

Valerenga has a great record against Sparta, but than again against who they don't. In last 14 matches in Oslo, Valerenga won 11 times while Sparta won 3 times, twice in OT.

I can't remember the last time Storhamar lost two home matches in a row and I think that is not going to happen today either. Storhamar had the lead twice against Sparta but failed to hold onto it. After that Sparta took the lead 3-2 with a shorthanded goal and the match become very undisciplined from that point. A lot of fights and penalties but no more goals could have been seen and Sparta left with all 3 points.
I believe that Storhamar will come out stronger and more determined to get a win in today's match against Frisk.
Not long ago Storhamar signed a Swedish forward Henrik Hoglund and he started to pay of already in first match scoring the first goal against Sparta.

Frisk is from Asker, a suburb of Oslo on the western side. The team has been around for a long time, but struggles to be amongst the best. As Trondheim, Frisk has a strong side every now and then, but in the long run they usually come up short. This season is going excellent for them so far as they occupy 3rd spot with a point more than Storhamar. They have made some very good results especially at home where they won all matches but one which they lost to Storhamar 2-3. Away from home they managed to suprise city rival Valerenga twice this season getting a point in each of these matches. Apart from those two meetings against Valerenga they recorded 3W and 3L on the road.

Storhamar has a great tradition against Frisk - 19-3-3 in last 25 matches while at home they won last 12.

Hurricanes lost two matches in a row with the last one coming against Trashers less than 24 hours ago. Trashers took an early 2-0 lead and it was hard to get back after that as they defended very well with Hedberg stoping 31 shot. Hurricanes could feel a bit tired and their morale probably isn't at its best but I beleive they will step up tonight and get back to winning ways. They still hold a positive home record of 5-3-1 but when they host Panthers they don't seem to have any problems getting points. Panthers are winless in last 13 matches at RBC Center managing to get just one tie.
Erik Cole is still missing and that will surely be a handicap but they should be able to cope with that.

Panthers managed to get a hard fought win against Capitals two days ago and to cut 4 games losing streak. This surely came as a relief but their away form (2-7-1) isn't promising anything good and they could start another losing streak very soon.

These two met already two times this season and Hurricanes won both matches (4-2 at home and 5 days ago 4-3 away).