Top Seeded Teams Take First Set of Games

Dynamo Moscow 3 – Lokomotiv 2 (OT)

Lokomotiv comes out of nowhere and scares Dynamo Moscow with an early 2-0 lead on four shots.  Mikelis Redlihs and Sergei Plotnikov put two goals past Yeryomenko in the first 15 minutes of the game, while holding Dynamo to only six first period shots.  Dynamo Moscow was just unlucky at times, missing the open net on several shots that could have easily put this game out of reach.

While Lokomotiv was able to hold on to that lead through the second period, the usually strong Curtis Sanford let in a bad goal on a long slapshot by Alexander Ryazabtsev to give Dynamo some momentum.  One minute later, Leo Komarov took a nice feed from behind the net and beat Sanford again to tie the game up at two shots a piece.

The 2-2 stalemate lasted through the final ten minutes of regulation, giving either team a chance to win on a sudden death goal.  Just two minutes in, Maxim Karpov entered the zone with speed and two teammates with him.  He let go a wrist shot that should have been saved by Sanford, but he lets another savable shot get behind him.  Unfortunately, this time it ended the game and Lokomotiv’s chance of a game one upset.

Lokomotiv only had 13 shots on goal and should not expect all of the games to be this close if they cannot produce more offensively, even if Sanford gets back to form.

SKA St. Petersburg 1 – CSKA Moscow 0

CSKA peppered Alexander Salak with 43 shots, but he was able to turn all of them aside for the shutout and give SKA a 1-0 series lead.  SKA had Ilya Kovalchuk return from injury ahead of schedule, but the offense just was not there as they had only 26 shots.  The team’s captain had two great scoring chances, but he could not capitalize.  The first was on a nice give-and-go that he sent through the crease behind Jeff Glass; the other goal went five-hole into the net, but it was called off as time had expired.

With just over ten minutes left in the game, Andrei Sigyarov dragged his stick from the right circle, feigning pass, and put a shot on net that Glass missed over his glove.  That was all SKA needed to take the game and an early series lead.

LEV Praha 4 – KHL Medvescak Zagreb 3

LEV Praha won their first postseason game as a franchise and stopped a comeback by the expansion Zagreb side, taking a 4-3 lead.  Medvescak did not show up in the first period, being outshot 17-6 and allowing two goals by Jiri Novotny and Justin Azevedo.  The Novotny goal came just 39 seconds into the game on a defensive breakdown by Medvescak, where the Bears just looked completely unprepared for playoff hockey.

Medvescak got back into the game with a beautiful tic-tac-toe play by Ryan Vesce, Charles Linglet and Matt Ellison sealing the deal behind a lost Petri Vehanen (replay here).  In the second period, the Bears appeared to wake up--Kurtis Foster scored on a laser slapshot to tie the game up at two goals apiece during a 4-on-3 power play.

LEV pulled away early in the final period though on two goals that illustrate the Bears’ weakness on defense and in the goal.  The first was a long slapshot with no traffic by Petr Vrana that beat netminder Mark Dekanich.  The second goal came off of a rebound from another long slapshot.  Martin Thornberg knocked in a rebound when Dekanich kicked another long slapper directly to Thornberg with no defenders around to help him out.

Matt Murley scored in the third period to give Medvescak a chance to send it into overtime.  Martin Sevc got called for an untimely penalty with two minutes to play and Medvescak pulled Dekanich for the extra attacker.  The 6-on-4 play gave Ellison a chance for his second goal, but Vehanen denied Zagreb and LEV took the first game of the series.

Donbass Donetsk 5 – Dinamo Riga 2

Riga would draw first blood, but that was as close as this game would get as Donbass outmatched Riga in a 5-2 victory.  After the Gints Meija power play goal on Micheal Leighton in the first period, Donbass scored four straight goals to pull away from the Latvian side. 

Lauris Darzins scored for Riga to make the game 4-2 with just over four minutes to play.  With a little more than a minute to go, Riga pulled Tellqvist during a timeout, going for a Hail Mary with the extra attacker.  Donbass cleared the zone with ten seconds to go and Teemu Laine outskated two Riga players to skate in for an easy empty net goal.  Dinamo simply does not look up to par with Donbass and they are going to have a short playoff series if they cannot stop the Donbass attack.

Western Conference play continues today in back-to-back games with the underdogs hoping they can tie the series before heading back to their home ice.

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