Hockey results Friday 18 September 2026: AI predictions review

Friday 18 September 2026 produced a 24-game slate across the DEL, Extraliga, KHL, Liiga and National League, and the ten-model consensus finished the night at 14 of 24. That is a shade under 60 per cent, a modest return on a card where several fixtures looked, on paper, unusually straightforward.

The biggest surprise landed in the DEL, where Schwenninger went down 0-5 at home to Frankfurt Lowen. All ten models had backed a Schwenninger win, with 4-2 the most common scoreline and an average confidence of 66 per cent. It was the heaviest miss of the day and the clearest reminder that unanimous backing is not the same as certainty.

A 24-game slate across five leagues ended with the consensus at 14 of 24.

Where the AI got it right

The KHL carried the consensus. Magnitogorsk vs Barys Astana prediction was called correctly by all ten models, with 4-2 the most common score and an average confidence of 70 per cent, the highest of any match on the card. Magnitogorsk delivered a 3-0 win, and the models were never seriously troubled.

Nurnberg Ice Tigers vs Augsburger Panther prediction was another unanimous call, 100 per cent of models backing the home side at an average confidence of 67 per cent. The most common score of 4-2 was one goal off the mark, but the direction was right as Nurnberg won 4-1.

In the Extraliga, Litvinov vs Pardubice prediction went the way of the consensus. All ten models picked Pardubice at 65 per cent average confidence, with 2-4 the most common scoreline; the final read 1-3, close enough in shape and correct in outcome.

The National League gave the models a rare clean sweep in Bern, where EHC Kloten vs Lugano prediction was split at 50 per cent of models. Kloten won 5-2, a comfortable margin for a call that carried only 58 per cent average confidence and no real consensus behind it.

Where it got it wrong

Schwenninger 0-5 Frankfurt Lowen was the headline failure: 100 per cent of ten models on a home win, most common score 4-2, average confidence 66 per cent, and a five-goal shutout against them. Kolner suffered the same fate in a wilder game, going down 4-8 to Grizzly Wolfsburg despite unanimous backing at 65 per cent average confidence and a most common score of 4-2.

The DEL produced four misses in six matches. Krefeld Pinguine lost 1-3 to Bremerhaven after 90 per cent of models picked the home side at 58 per cent average confidence, and Munchen beat Adler Mannheim 4-3 against a 70 per cent consensus for the visitors.

Elsewhere, Sochi's 3-2 win over Bars Kazan overturned a unanimous Bars Kazan call at 64 per cent average confidence. KooKoo were beaten 0-4 at home by SaiPa with all ten models on the home side, and in the National League Servette lost 3-4 to Ajoie against a 100 per cent consensus at 68 per cent average confidence. Bern's 5-2 win over Davos went against an 80 per cent Davos lean, and Ambri-Piotta's 6-3 win over Rapperswil-Jona flipped a unanimous away pick at 60 per cent average confidence.

Models of the day

GLM 5.3 topped the table with 16 of 24 correct, two clear of the chasing pack. GPT-5.6 Luna, Qwen 3.8 Max, Grok 4.6 and Gemini 3.8 Flash all finished on 15 of 24.

At the other end, Claude Sonnet 5 and Kimi K3 shared the worst tally at 12 of 24. Mistral Medium 3.5, DeepSeek V4 Pro and MiMo V2.5 Pro each managed 13 of 24, leaving a four-call gap between the best and worst performers on a night when the consensus itself landed at 14 of 24.

Full results

• DEL: Kolner 4-8 Grizzly Wolfsburg — consensus Kolner win (100%) WRONG
• DEL: Krefeld Pinguine 1-3 Bremerhaven — consensus Krefeld Pinguine win (90%) WRONG
• DEL: Munchen 4-3 Adler Mannheim — consensus Adler Mannheim win (70%) WRONG
• DEL: Iserlohn Roosters 3-4 ERC Ingolstadt — consensus ERC Ingolstadt win (90%) RIGHT
• DEL: Schwenninger 0-5 Frankfurt Lowen — consensus Schwenninger win (100%) WRONG
• DEL: Nurnberg Ice Tigers 4-1 Augsburger Panther — consensus Nurnberg Ice Tigers win (100%) RIGHT
• Extraliga: Trinec 6-5 Kometa Brno — consensus Trinec win (100%) RIGHT
• Extraliga: Litvinov 1-3 Pardubice — consensus Pardubice win (100%) RIGHT
• KHL: Tractor Chelyabinsk 1-3 Spartak Moscow — consensus Spartak Moscow win (70%) RIGHT
• KHL: Magnitogorsk 3-0 Barys Astana — consensus Magnitogorsk win (100%) RIGHT
• KHL: Salavat Ufa 2-0 Niznekamsk — consensus Salavat Ufa win (100%) RIGHT
• KHL: Dinamo Minsk 4-1 Novosibirsk — consensus Dinamo Minsk win (100%) RIGHT
• KHL: Nizhny Novgorod 2-3 CSKA Moscow — consensus CSKA Moscow win (100%) RIGHT
• KHL: Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2-1 Avangard Omsk — consensus Lokomotiv Yaroslavl win (90%) RIGHT
• KHL: Sochi 3-2 Bars Kazan — consensus Bars Kazan win (100%) WRONG
• Liiga: Jukurit 3-1 Pelicans — consensus Jukurit win (100%) RIGHT
• Liiga: KalPa 1-2 Ilves — consensus Ilves win (80%) RIGHT
• Liiga: KooKoo 0-4 SaiPa — consensus KooKoo win (100%) WRONG
• National League: Fribourg 4-2 Lausanne — consensus Fribourg win (100%) RIGHT
• National League: Langnau Tigers 3-4 Zurich — consensus Langnau Tigers win (50%) WRONG
• National League: Servette 3-4 Ajoie — consensus Servette win (100%) WRONG
• National League: EHC Kloten 5-2 Lugano — consensus EHC Kloten win (50%) RIGHT
• National League: Bern 5-2 Davos — consensus Davos win (80%) WRONG
• National League: Ambri-Piotta 6-3 Rapperswil-Jona — consensus Rapperswil-Jona win (100%) WRONG

The next slate is already processed. All ten models have submitted their calls for today's fixtures, with consensus picks, most common scorelines and confidence levels published on the today's hockey predictions page.

Next up: today's hockey predictions from the same panel, and the results archive with every graded call. Forecasts are informational only.