Eastern playoffs Day 2

Metallurg, Barys and Torpedo double the lead in the quarterfinal series, Ak Bars ties it at 1 after overtime.

Metallurg Magnitogorsk - Admiral Vladivostok 5:3 (Metallurg lead series 2-0)

Not the best start for the league's newcomers. After 1:08 Bergfors is sent to the box for kneeing and following the penalty Viktor Antipin buries the powerplay tally at 2:32 and Metallurg are up ahead early in the game. Despite closing down Mozyakin who only got an assist, Admiral still couldn't tie the series prior to departing back for Vladivostok.

Midway through the first period Yaroslav Khabarov joins the rush after skating back onto the ice from the penalty box, Danis Zaripov is on the other side waiting for the feed, but the cross-pass gets deflected in the waning moments. Five minutes later Admiral prove they're not a bystander as Gynge and Bocharov put pressure on Koshechkin.

Just like yesterday, only tonight Admiral opens the second, not first, period extremely well and then get denied by the hosts with two quick responses. At 20:54 Niclas Bergfors strikes on a solo effort from the right levelling the score. At 22:41 Yaroslav Kosov and then again at 22:52 Tim Brent restore and extend the lead for Magnitka. Admiral came close on the powerplay at 28:31 when Dmitry Vorobyov lights the lamp on the assist from veteran Mike Commodore.

Francis Pare at 32:49 racks up the game-winner to extend the lead to 4:2 which proves out of reach for Admiral. Evgeny Grachyov at 34:42 brings Admiral close again, though Chris Lee seals the deal at 43:33 on a powerplay with Mozyakin picking up his third playoffs assist and Jan Kovar getting the first.

Barys Astana - Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 5:4 OT (Barys lead series 2-0)

Another goal galore tonight as Barys and Avto accumulate 9 goals to determine the winner. It must feel bitter when you score 4 goals on the road and find it insufficient - especially when it puts you behind in the series 2-0. Only once did it happen to them this season, but it was at home in September when they lost to SKA in Yekaterinburg 6:4.

Going into the first break it was tied at 1. Mikhail Rakhmanov opened the scoring at 5:34 and it looked at that time Barys could keep their fans away from shocks like yesterday. Boy, were they wrong.

Midway through comes the equalizer - Andre Deveaux slides one in from close range and stuns the home crowd again. Barys continued their pressure after the tally, Nigel Dawes had an opportunity closing down from the right, but the result stood unchanged. The first big opportunity in the second frame belongs to Nikita Vyglazov who moves in on the right and Eremeev stops his shot and the rebound from the slot. Shortly after, at 25:38 Roman Starcheko finds his way to the net from the left hand side after a visionary pass from Konstantin Rudenko .

Lively play continues turning this series into one of the most action-packed. Avtomobilist gets the lead through Artyom Chernov for his second at 30:09 and Fyodor Malykhin for his first playoffs goal at 34:12. Starchenko adds another one before the end and ties the game going into second intermission, merely 20 seconds before the end.

Brandon Bochenski (46:47) from the home side and Dmitry Megalitsky (56:01) made sure the game didn't end after 60 minutes. Barys again struggling with hard working, disciplined Avtomobilist who yesterday needed two overtime periods to be finally broken. Tonight, 77:39 was enough for Mike Lundin to beat heroic Jakub Kovar and extend the series lead to 2 for Barys.

Ak Bars Kazan - Sibir Novosibirsk 3:2 OT (Series tied at 1)

When someone says dream start - they probably think exactly of what Sibir had tonight. Dmitry Monya sends one home after only 15 seconds of play from the blueline and announed a big game from Sibir. There is no place for beauty on the ice in the playoffs if you aim to win the series.

Ak Bars took over from there constantly attacking on Mikko Koskinen in net, though Jakub Petruzalek getting the first dangerous opporunity centering the blind pass to the slot and Garipov pulling off the save. Ak Bars continued to put pressure in the attacking zone but were pretty sterile, while Alexei Kopeikin midway through fires on the rebound from the right and misses the net wide to the left before Garipov could have retrieved.

Second period - different story. Ak Bars with more of the play, getting more dangerous chances and shots on net without finding the way through and over the goal line. Dmitry Kugryshev, however, does as he doubles the lead for Sibir on a single powerplay following a 5-on-3 as well.

Sibir demontrate how to spill a hard-fought lead with defence. Playing pure defence might work thoughout the season after you've built up a lead and perhaps in one game of the playoffs. But never twice. Alexander Osipov cuts the lead to half at 45:17 on the powerplay and Ak Bars change the momentum. Downslide for Sibir ends deep down when they concede in the last minute of regulation through Mikhail Varnakov from close range after Alexander Burmistrov and Tim Stapleton had played a fine passing game behind the net. 

7:25 into overtime was enough for Alexander Osipov to bury his second of the night and the game-winner tying the series before departing for Novosibirsk.

Mikko Koskinen faced 35 shots through the game and finished with 91.4 % on Sibir's side.

Salavat Yulaev Ufa - Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 0:1 (Torpedo lead series 2-0)

An action-packed game between the two like yesterday brought about the old winner. Torpedo wins another one to extend the series lead and have a huge opportunity to capitalize on the hard work back on home ice.

Newly imported Krystrofer Kolanos socred the lone goal at 24:12 getting the edge on the home team. Denish Parshin and Sergei Bernatsky were on the assists. 

Opening the game Salavat were more active, especially in the first. The second period brought no change in play but did on the boards. Torpedo up, Salavat still pushing with more promising opportunities, but at the end of the day the number of goals you scored is all that matters.

Ivan Kasutin stopped all 34 shots aimed at him in his second playoff game this season thus joining Alexander Salak of SKA who are the only netminders with shutouts so far.

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