Pardubice thrash Liberec in Game 5

In playoffs which have thrown up a number of shock results, few would have predicted the thrashing which Pardubice dished out to Liberec tonight, as the home side ran out 8-1 winners, and now hold a 3-2 lead in the playoff series. Petr Koukal scored two first period goals for the home side, whilst five others got their names on the scoresheet. Koukal scored twice on Marek Pinc, who was pulled in the eighteenth minute after conceding three goals on twelve shots, but his replacement Tomáš Vošvrda conceded the first shot his faced, and could only muster 21 saves as Pardubice ran riot.

Pardubice scored four times in the first period, as Radovan Somik and Lukáš Radil added to Koukal's two tallies, whilst Liberec tried, but failed to beat Martin Růžička. The scoreline may overshadow the role played by the Pardubice goaltender in this game, as he did have to make 29 saves as Liberec had a number of chances, but it just seemed that all the luck was on the side of the Pardubice players, and every shot that they took found its way into the net.

Daniel Rákos opened the scoring in the second period for the home side on a rebound effort, before Liberec finally managed to get on the scoreboard, as Jan Víšek tipped in a pinpoint Petr Ulrych pass. However, that was the only joy that Liberec were going to get, as Martin Bartek got his third assist of the night on Aleš Píša's late second period goal, giving Pardubice a 6-1 lead at the end of the second period. Pardubice added two more goals in the final frame to add salt to the wound, as Lukáš Radil scored his second goal of the game before Jan Semorad closed the scoring with little over three minutes to go. Defenceman Jan Kolář also added three assists for Pardubice, who had 14 players register a point in this game.

Tempers unsurprisingly flared as the game came to a close, as Liberec's David Štich received a game misconduct following some staggering behaviour, roughing up two Pardubice players before being left by the linesmen. He then skated towards the Pardubice goal, and pushed a Pardubice player over, sending him falling into the goal. Items rained down onto the ice as Štich made his way off the ice, but it took nothing away from the result, as Pardubice now go into Game 6 full of confidence, whilst Liberec must win it to keep their playoff hopes alive.

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