Upsets in the East

Day 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs brings about some surprises and a favorite to win after unexpectedly big effort.

Metallurg Magnitogorsk - Admiral Vladivostok 3:1 (Metallurg lead series 1-0)

A strong start by the Far Eastern visitors didn't help them get on the winning track in the playoffs. With three quick answers before the first break Metallurg set the road to the win.

Admiral went 1 for 1 on the powerplay tonight when Alexei Ugarov capitalizes on the powerplay at 2:49. Jan Kovar strikes twice and Danis Zaripov adds another one in between to seal the deal in the first period. Following two penalties one after the other Jan Kovar buries a powerplay tally to tie the game at 10:56. Danis Zaripov scores the game-winner at 14:43 on the assist from Sergei Mozyakin and 2 minutes before the end of the period Kovar adds his second of the night and seals the deal.

Early in the second Mozyakin misses two goal-scoring opportunities before Felix Schutz went for the wrap-around five minutes into the period, but was left empty-handed. The teams were evenly matched for the rest of the game, both having 3-on-2 breaks and neither scoring. Despite the third period being marked with penalties, Admiral were pretty harmless when having the advantage on the ice which turned the game away from them. In the 57th minute both teams had huge chances one after the other, but the result didn't change.

Barys Astana - Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 3:2 2OT (Barys lead series 1-0)

Harder than anyone had expected did Barys get their first win in this season's playoffs. They needed exactly 80:32 when Roman Savchenko finished his superb performance with a goal - a game-winner to be precise. He also added two assists.

Barys started the game strong, came out fighting, but Avtomobilist started answering back at 6:45. And from that point on, it was downslide for the home team during the first period. Avtomobilist finally woke up and put Ari Ahonen to a firing range in the next ten minutes who was keeping the Kazakhs alive during that period. Barys have more of the play towards the end but were left scoreless before the first break.

And then - fireworks! At 20:36 Artyom Chernov stuns the home crowd with a solo effort and gets Avtomobilist in front. Roman Starchenko answers at 24:00 on the assists from afore mentioned Savchenko and Alexei Litvinenko capitalize on the powerplay. Later in the second Avtomobilist had a 5-on-3 opportunity but couldn't rack it up. Kristian Kudroc and Andre Deveaux had some arguments during the game, had two fights in a row, just as they skated back in from the previous penalty they were called back to the box for roughing. Action-packed second part of the 2nd frame continued as both teams were exchanging quick releases.

Still, we had to wait for the third period to see some more goals. First, at 44:05 Roman Starchenko racks one up for the lead before Sami Lepisto was able to annull it at 46:23 - the assists from Artyom Chernov and Tobias Viklund and the game was going to overtime.

After a scoreless first overtime in which Avtomobilist dictated the tempo and Ahonen was replaced by Yeremeyev in the 69th minute, Savchenko lights the final lamp and seals the deal early in the second overtime. As early as 32 seconds in.

Ak Bars Kazan - Sibir Novosibirsk 1:3 (Sibir lead series 1-0)

Ready for upsets? Good, we have two. Ak Bars were up to a dream-start and honestly no one was giving too many chances to Sibir. By the 7th minute the home side had already had two major scoring opportunities before at 8:28 Mikhail Varnakov does what many had expected - gets Bars ahead on the boards. The goal was scored right after powerplay had ended, so the fundamentals must have been good.

That was about it from Bars, early in the second, at 21:27, Jarno Koskiranta levels the score. Bars couldn't find the way through even with 5-on-3 which retaliates back when Sibir were up ahead by two during second intermission. On the powerplay before scoring they were solid and put a lot of pressure on the net, when at 28:18 Igor Ozhiganov turns the game around. Oleg Gubin seals the deal at 36:40 as a sign hard work always pays off.

Right at the start of the third Sibir had another huge opportunity and then retreated to defend the lead. Shaun Heshka sent a blast at Koskiranta in ent in the 47th minute, Bars continued to put constant pressure in the zone, Sibir concentrated on discipline defensively and were looking for their chances on the breakaways. The nets were left intact until the end for the first big upset of the night.

Salavat Yulaev Ufa - Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1:3 (Torpedo lead series 1-0)

Another upset, though reasonably smaller. Salvat and Torpedo looked like evenly matched on paper with Salavat having a small advantage. Since hockey is not played on paper, but rather on the ice Torpedo stood good chances after the opening faceoff draw.

Special teams weren't of significance as there were little penalties in the game - Salavat went 0 for 1 in the first period.

Torpedo scores a goal in each respective period, the second being the only lucky for the hosts to see the puck in the net, and earn a somewhat easy win. Although there are no easy wins in the playoffs. At 14:58 Evgeny Skachkov redeems for the only penalty in the first frame as he sets the puck up for Alexei Badyukov and Torpedo are ahead. In the second they continue to dominate as well as they had in the first, though Salavat turns the momentum in their favor with two promising attacks.

Cold shower at 28:20 when Mikhail Grigoryev doubles with the lone powerplay goal of the game.Evgeny Skachkov was the most active forward for the visitors, often setting up shots or shooting himself and ragging with the puck a lot in the offensive zone. Some joy for the home fans five minutes before the second break, Igor Mirnov cuts the lead to half.

Salavat turns up for the game dominating throughout the third period and as well have a goal washed out as the scorer Teemu Hartikainen was violating the goalie crease. Before the event happened before Torpedo's net Evgeny Skachkov had capitalized on his majestic play burying the final score at 50:33.

Some interesting plays throughout the day in the East and it all continues tomorrow, March 9th.

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