2:0 for SKA, Dynamo and Atlant

Avangard 4-2 Amur

Playofsf at the East started with the game in Omsk where Avangard faced Amur. The match was opened in power-play when Anssi Salmela fired from the blue line after a pass from Alexander Popov at 10:02. 53 seconds later Sergei Kalinin doubled the Avangard advantage after being first on the rebound. With 52 seconds to play in the first Roman Cervenka fired and then added the puck into the net to make it 3-0. Avangard killed the game intrigue early in the third when puck did get into the net after ricochet. Alexander Frolov was the last player from Avangard who touched the puck. Amur managed to cut the Avangard lead to 2 goals. First Mikhail Glukhov fed up a nice pass to Dmitry Shitikov who beat Karri Ramo and then Glukhov himself touched a puck to the net at 55:09 to close the game at a 4:2 score.

“It was a game of teams who are between regular season and the play-offs. We didn’t prepare for it, we were lucky with these quick goals,” Avangard head coach Raimo Summanen said to RIA Novosti.

Traktor 3–1 Yugra

The winner of the Continental Cup began its home series against Yugra. The favorite scored only in the second when Vladimir Antipov added the puck into the net after Konstantin Panov's shot at 25:50. During a 10 second span Yevgeny Katichev and Gennady Razin earned two minutes penalties each for hi-sticking to give Yugra a 5-on-3 power-play chance. It was turned to a goal after Yevgeny Khvostov's accurate powerful shot at 33:19. Stanislav Chistov pulled Traktor ahead with a nice high shot from the right faceoff circle at the end of the second. Anton Glinkin came into the offensive zone from the right wing then dished up to Andrei Popov who made it 3-1. Traktor dominated most part of the game, outshot Yugra 52-25 and won the first game against Yugra.

Metallurg Mg 3–2 Barys

In Magnitogorsk Metallurg faced Barys in the first game of their series. The first half of the game was goalless and only at 37 minutes one of the teams scored. Maxim Sushinsky did it, but the goal was only awarded after 10 minutes of investigation. The second period ended with Anton But's shorthanded goal in a breakaway. Barys tried to return to the game early in the third when Konstantin Pushkaryov added a puck to the net after Yevgeny Fadeyev's shot at 42:01. But 1.5 minutes later Alexei Bondarev returned a 2-goal lead for Barys with a nice shot. Andrew Hutchinson who was behind the net fed up a pass to Kamil Kreps who cut Metallurg lead at 53:36. Barys was close to turn the game into overtime but Metallurg goalie Ari Ahonen and Magnitogorsk's defense helped their team to earn the first win over Barys.

Ak Bars 0–3 Salavat Yulaev

The Big Green Derby started in Kazan where home side Ak Bars was blanked by Salavat Yulaev. The score was opened in the second when Alexander Radulov fed up a nice pass to Vitaly Proshkin who beat Kazan goalie Petri Vehanen. With a one-timer from the blue line Proshkin doubled the Salavat Yulaev lead at 32:59. Another D-man Miroslav Blatyak closed the game after getting a pass from Radulov and a nice finish at 46:08. Erik Ersberg stopped 27 shots and helped his team to get a home ice advantage in this series.

SKA 7–1 CSKA

SKA destroyed CSKA in the second game of the first round at the West. They opened the score when only 23 seconds of the first had been played. Petr Prucha with a low shot made it 1-0. Two minutes later Fyodor Fyodorov with a nice sole move increased the SKA lead. Rastislav Stana was substituted by his backup Sergei Gaiduchenko. Soon CSKA scored with Yury Butsayev's first goal of the season at 05:17. Gaiduchenko denied Patrick Thoresen a penalty shot goal later in the period. In the last 5 minutes of the second SKA killed all CSKA chances to come back in this game with three goals by Vladimir Tarasenko, Kirill Koltsov and Fydorov. But it wasn’t the end - with 1:25 to play in the third Dmitry Kalinin fired from the blue line to make it 6-1. 8 seconds later Alexander Kucheryavenko finished the game at 7-1. SKA led after two game 2-0 and have a real chance to beat CSKA in four games this weekend in Moscow.

“I had a feeling that we played tonight against Vityaz, not CSKA. Our opponents can’t skate at the same speed and try to provoke our players,” SKA head coach Milos Riha told RIA Novosti.

Torpedo 1–2 OT Dinamo Riga

Dinamo Riga corrected the mistakes they did yesterday and tied the series. Riga began the game more active and had real chances to take the lead. Torpedo scored first when Vladimir Galuzin added the puck into the net after Alexander Romanovsky's shot at 25:40. The game was very likely to end with a tight 1-0 score when Sergei Rozin received the first 2-minute penalty for Torpedo for tripping. 27 seconds past and Janis Sprukts redirected the puck into the net at 55:49. In the overtime Mikhail Varnakov who made a hat-trick last night didn’t score from a penalty shot and three minutes later Mikelis Redlihs used his chance in a breakaway after a pass from Martins Karsums at 64:52. The series is now tied and Dinamo Riga gets an advantage on home ice.

Atlant 3–1 Severstal

It seemed that like in the series SKA-CSKA everything can be clear this week-end after the second Atlant win. Atlant played better than Severstal in the first but the best scorer of the Cherepovets team Vadim Shipachyov opened the scoring at 13:53. Atlant continued to dominate in the first but had to wait until Ilya Kablukov tied it at 22:58. Early in the third Atlant pulled ahead when Vasily Koshechkin got the puck to the own net after Andrei Zubarev's shot. Jonas Andersson with an empty-net goal at 59:07 made the score in the series 2-0 in favor of Atlant.

Dynamo Moscow 2–0 Dinamo Minsk

Another shutout happened in Moscow where local Dynamo beat Dinamo Minsk for the second time. Mikhail Anisin became the main hero of the game. At his 24th birthday he scored twice to give his team a win. First time he scored with a nice high shot under the crossbar and then with a similar shot from the faceoff circle to make it 2-0. For these goals he needed only 2:34 in the middle of the second. Dynamo goalie Alexander Yeryomenko stopped 24 shots and helped Dynamo to go to Minsk with a 2-0 lead in the series.

“It was a nervous game. It will be great if some of our players will have birthdays this month. Anisin should keep calm and shouldn’t behave in this way, it’s the playoffs,” Dynamo head coach Oleg Znarok spoke to RIA Novosti.

 

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