LEV 3:4 PET | Lev Praha - SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)

KHL

Khabarovsk – Donbass	0:4 (end)	\|	Admiral – Spartak	1:2 (end)	\|	Novokuznetsk – Medvescak	1:5 (end)
Torpedo – Dynamo	1:3 (end)	\|	CSKA – Lokomotiv	1:3 (end)	\|	HC Slovan – Cherepovets	3:2 (end)
Lev – SKA St. Petersburg	3:4 (3:4 after SO)

after shootout (3:4)

Lev Praha

3:4 (0:1, 3:1, 0:1 - 0:0)

SKA St. Petersburg

Monday 02.12.2013, 19:00 • Tipsport Arena • KHL

		Wow, what a game in front of more than 10 000 fans in Prague, and what a dramatic finish in the shootout. Lev loses, but they get quite a cheer from the home fans as they leave. (21:44:53)
		Game over.
		SKA St. Petersburg has won in a shoot-out. ILYA KOVALCHUK gets credit for the game-winning goal.
		Kovalchuk scores low and SKA wins.
		Klepis tries to go to the backhand again but misses the net this time.
		Roman Cervenka outwaits Vehanen and then goes high when the goalie goes down. And onto round 6.
		Jakub Klepis with another goal on the backhand.
		Ilya Kovalchuk beats Vehanan 5-hole. And on to round 5.
		Jakub Klepis begins round 4 for Lev with a goal. Now SKA must score.
		David Ullstrom with the beautiful goal on the high backhand just inside the post. We go to round 4.
		Roman Cervenka scores, beating Vehanen stick side, and now Lev must score.
		Jakub Klepis tries to deke but Alexander Salak makes a great glove save!
		Viktor Tikhonov tries to go backhand and misses high.
		Martin Thornberg ties to go high on Salak, hits the stick of Salak.
		Artemi Panarin with the first shot for SKA, blocker save Vehanen.
		Wow, after those theatrics, we've got a shootout coming up.
	65:00	Overtime finished.
		Jiri Novotny is furious at SKA's Alexei Ponikoarovsky and is trying to get to the bench. Now Nathan Oystrick has lost it and is trying to get at the SKA bench. He's trying to get at Igor Makarov. Both players have been now kicked out of the game by the referee.
	63:59	Panarin with the long shot on an SKA rush, then Maxim Chudinov a wrister from the point, both stopped by Vehanen and he covers.
	63:10	Klepis with a shot, Salak the save, then with Salak down Novotny spun around a shot it wide.
	62:44	Play in the Lev zone, Vehanen catches a shot from Kalinin and holds it.
	62:19	David Ullstrom with a long shot, Salak was at first going to play it but then elected to cover with pressure bearing down on him.
	60:57	Back the other way, Novotny tried to go inside-out on an SKA d-man but lost the puck and didn't get a shot.
	60:20	Tikhonov with a great chance right in front, re-directed it but Vehanen with the stick save from point blank.
	60:01	Overtime began.
		After some early action that third period, the two teams seemed not to want to risk a point in the late going, and so we're now heading to overtime. It's a 5-minute sudden-death period at 4-on-4. If nobody scores, this game will be settled in a shootout.
	60:00	3rd period finished.
	59:01	Play is stopped as the puck ends up on the back of the Lev net. Faceoff inside.
	57:15	Shot from Thornberg in the high slot, pad save Salak. He's had a lot of shots today.
	56:59	SKA shoot-in attempt goes out of play, faceoff at centre ice.
	56:06	Icing SKA.
	55:57	Offside Lev.
	55:25	Puck once again deflected out of play in the Lev zone, faceoff inside.
	55:17	Panarin tries to deflect a shot on goal but Vehanen gets his glove on it and hangs on.
	54:09	Semyonov with the wrister from the point, Vehanen catches it in traffic and holds on.
	52:52	Puck deflected out of play in the SKA zone, faceoff inside.
	52:29	Offside Lev.
	52:08	Jakub Klepis with the big open-ice hit on Ketov, knocking him down and getting a big cheer from the crowd.
	51:20	Kovalchuk with a long wrister from the point pad save Vehanen. That's Kovalchuk's first shot on goal of the game.
	51:11	Tikhonov with the low wrister kicked out by Vehanen, then it comes back to him and his shot is deflected out of play. Faceoff in the Lev zone.
	50:00	Lev with a couple shot attempts, Sekac and Thornberg, both blocked. SKA start back.
	49:38	Alexei Ponivarovsky with a wrister from the left wing, Vehanen catches and holds on.
	49:00	Lev back at full strength, SKA shotless on the PP, play in the SKA zone.
	47:58	Martin Thornberg shoots from centre ice and Salak is forced to cover it, pinning the SKA power play in their own zone with :56 left -- they still don't have a shot.
	46:54	It's now SKA's turn to go to the power play as Martin Sevc is called for hooking.
	46:10	Ponikarovsky goes down the wing beating the Lev D wide and tried to stuff it in the short side but Vehanen gave him nothing.
	45:50	Wrister from Nemec, Salak catches it with just :02 left in the penalty.
	45:00	Back and forth on that sequence, first an SKA shorthanded rush, then Lev back the other way but Patrik Zackrisson can't finish.
	44:20	Big one-timer from Oystrick hits Salak in the chest.
	43:52	Then a scramble in the SKA crease and we've got some pushing and shoving after the whistle. It looks like Alexei Semyonov is getting the only penalty for roughing. Lev to the power play.
	43:44	Sekac with a low wrister, stick save Salak.
	43:01	Burdasov feeds Sigaryov on an SKA rush but he fans on the shot and Vehanen has no trouble with it. He covers for a faceoff.
	40:54	Goal for SKA! The call is a good goal, so VIKTOR TIKHONOV with the deflection of Semyonov's shot from the point. Assists: Alexei Semyonov, Atremi Panarin.
	40:54	A shot from the point by Alexei Semyonov is tipped by the stick of Vitkor Tikhonov in front. The call on the ice is a goal but they're going upstairs to check.
	40:30	David Ullstrom leads the first Lev rush of the period, rips a shot just high.
	40:01	Start of 3rd period.
		The teams are returning to the ice and the 3rd period will start shortly.
		A big second period for Lev, who score 3 goals on 18 shots in that middle frame, really revving this big crowd up. SKA tied the game in the middle part of that period and then had a 5-on-3 for 1:34 but couldn't get the go-ahead goal, but Michal Repik did for Lev in the last minute from a bad angle. Shots on goal in the 2nd period (and game): Lev 18 (27), SKA 9 (20). Faceoffs: Lev 20/38 (Zackrisson 12/14), SKA 18/38 (Shipachyov 6/8). Icetime leaders: Lev – Novotny 15:47, SKA – Chudinov 18:51. 3rd period begins at 20:48 CET, 14:48 EST.
	40:00	2nd period finished.
	39:12	Goal for Lev! Vrana wins the puck in the corner, feeds MICHAL REPIK, who takes a bad angle shot that somehow beats Salak on the short side along the ice. Assist: Petr Vrana.
	38:53	Jaakola with the high shot from the point, knocked down by the arm of Salak.
	38:38	Clean faceoff win by Repik, slapper from O'Byrne right at Salak, who hangs on again.
	38:35	Icing SKA, who are back at full strength.
	38:06	Martin Thornberg spins around in the slot with the puck and fires but Alexander Salak robs him from point blank with just :03 left in the penalty.
	37:53	SKA had a shorthanded 2 on 2 rush and Jiri Novotny blocked a slapshot and leaves to the bench in considerable pain. Lev meanwhile goes back down and Salak makes the save with :16 left in the penalty.
	37:24	Big slapper from Sevc, pad save Salak.
	36:50	Lev now to the power play, shot by Vrana is kicked out by Salak.
	36:09	Now Ilya Kovalchuk is getting called for slashing! One Lev penalty is over, and in :25 they'll be on the power play. SKA power play is over.
	35:32	Ponikarovsky comes down the wing, Vehanen catches and holds his shot for a faceoff with :36 left in the 5 on 3.
	35:08	It's just 5 each for fighting to Tikhonov and Jaakola. Still 1:00 left in SKA's 5-on-3, faceoff in the Lev zone.
	35:08	We get a scramble in the Lev crease and following the whistle a fight between Viktor Tikhonov and Jakub Klepis. The fans love this. We'll see how the penalties are sorted.
	35:00	Kovalhcuk feedsd Chudinov for the big slapper, blocked in front by Novotny.
	34:34	Now Lev's going to be 2 men down as Ryan O'Byrne goes off with his second high-sticking penalty of the game, so SKA with a 5-on-3 for 1:34.
	34:08	Lev is getting a penalty on the play too, Ondrej Nemec.
	34:08	SKA back into the Lev zone, Viktor Tikhonov with the high wrister, blocker save Vehanen, and he finally covers it.
	32:44	Goal for SKA! They were putting on pressure, Igor Makarov shot it from the point, it went off the inside of the leg of Lev defenceman Topi Jaakola and also apparently VADIM SHIPACHYOV got a piece of it. A pinball shot that Vehanen had no chance on. Assist: Igor Makarov.
	32:24	Panarin with the wrister right off the draw, right to Vehanen, who holds on again.
	32:22	Anton Burdasov with a hard wrister right into Vehanen, who holds on.
	31:29	Lev back at full strength, try the long stretch pass the other way but called on the offside. Faceoff at the SKA blueline.
	30:30	Lev now ices and both units change up. SKA fired wide on three attempts in the first part of that power play.
	30:00	Alexei Kuteikin rips a slapper wide and off the glass.
	29:26	Petr Vrana is now getting called for tripping in his own zone, so SKA gets their second power play of the game, they're 0/1.
	29:20	Long lead pass to Alexei Ponikarovsky, couldn't shake off the last defenceman and backhands it into Vehanen's pad.
	27:45	Ullstrom to Azevedo again on the rush, one-times it just wide. Azevedo then crashes heavily into the end boards shoulder-first, and cringes in pain.
	27:14	Lev rush into the zone, Michal Repik rips a slapper that Salak catches and holds onto.
	26:30	The SKA penalty bench door is open and the referee has indicated a misconduct penalty. Somebody obviously said something to the refs, probably in disagreement of the penalty shot call. It's Anton Malyshev, who will sit for 10 minutes. Teams remain 5 on 5. Now Malyshev leaves the box and Andrei Sigaryov goes in. To clarify, it was the goaltender's penalty, Alexander Salak, so Sigaryov is serving it.
	26:30	Goal for Lev! MICHAL BIRNER beats Salak over the pad below the blocker, just inside the post with a wrister on the penalty shot.
	26:30	Klepis with the pass sends Michal Birner in alone, he's hooked down and has drawn a penalty shot.
	25:53	Maenpaa trails into the Lev zone, takes a pass and rips a shot on goal, hits Salak in the chest.
	25:26	Icing Lev.
	25:13	Cervenka with a high wrister from the top of the circle, hits Vehanen in the shoulder.
	24:47	Offside Lev on the pass, faceoff at centre ice.
	24:20	Ullstrom across to Azevedo streaking to the net but Salak makes a big pad save.
	23:13	Repik with a tricky shot from the boards that hits Salak through traffic, not sure he saw it.
	22:25	Big hit into the end boards by Artemi Panarin on Ryan O'Byrne.
	21:55	Puck deflected out of play in the Lev zone, faceoff inside.
	20:48	Goal for Lev! Ullstrom digs out the puck from down low and passes in front to JUSTIN AZEVEDO, who fires an absolute rocket over the shoulder of Salak, off the crossbar and in to tie this game. Assist: David Ullstrom.
	20:01	Start of 2nd period.
		The teams are back on the ice and the 2nd period will start shortly.
		Not a bad first period of hockey in Prague, some decent chances for both teams and some good goaltending from both Petri Vehanen and Alexander Salak. Artemi Panarin scored the period's only goal on a quick shot. Shots on goal in the 1st period: Lev 9, SKA 11. Faceoffs: Lev 5/12 (Zackrisson 2/4), SKA 7/12 (Tikhonov 4/4). Icetime leaders: Lev – Novotny 8:01, SKA – Semyonov 7:52. 2nd period begins at 19:48 CET, 13:48 EST.
	20:00	1st period finished.
	19:00	Chudinov with a chance in front and shoots high, then Lev clears the zone.
	18:30	Ullstrom with a backhander in close just after the power play ends, stick save Salak.
	18:00	Lev unable to get anything going on this power play so far, SKA clears it the length of the ice right on Vehanen.
	16:25	Yevgeni Skachkov now gets called for a trip in the attacking zone, so Lev goes back to the power play.
	15:40	Now another shot by Cervenka, breaks his stick and goes to the bench.
	15:25	Roman Cervenka with a wrister on the rush, blocker save Vehanen.
	13:39	Play down low, the puck comes in front and Salak covers it, and we have a bit of pushing and shoving after the whistle.
	13:30	SKA at full strength, play in the SKA zone.
	12:45	Now Ullstrom with a long shot off the draw, Salak knocks it down with the glove but had some trouble with it.
	12:41	Justin Azevedo with a slapper, Salak the save and hangs on with just :08 left in the penalty.
	11:40	Shorthanded 2-on-1 for SKA, Shipachyov with the backhand pass to Ketov, and Petri Vehanen slides across and makes the stick save.
	11:12	Klepis with a low wrister, stick save Salak and the puck is cleared.
	10:49	Ilya Kovalchuk gets called putting a hook on Jiri Sekac in the neutral zone, so now Lev gets their first power play of the game.
	09:09	Puck out of play into the Lev bench. Faceoff outside the blueline.
	08:30	Lev back at full strength and SKA back to retreat in the own zone.
	07:39	Kuteikin tries to find Kovalchuk in front but he couldn't corral it, then Lev ice it.
	07:10	Chudinov sends a low wrister toward the net from the point, deflected to the corner.
	06:28	Now O'Byrne is getting the game's first penalty for high-sticking, unrelated to the hit on Tikhonov. The dangerous SKA power play goes to work. Kovalchuk on the ice.
	05:50	Ryan O'Byrne steps onto the ice and levels Viktor Tikhonov in open ice at the Lev blueline, which draws a positive crowd reaction.
	04:52	Shot from the point by Yuri Alexandrov is deflected out of play in teh Lev zone. Afterward Ilya Kovalchuk and Martin Sevc exchange words, but that's all. Faceoff in the Lev zone.
	04:09	Another SKA rush and Vehanen makes the save. He gets a snow shower after, which upsets some Lev players.
	02:50	Goal for SKA! The puck comes out of the corner and ARTEMI PANARIN fires a one-timer that beats Vehanen low to the stick side. Assist: Alexander Kucheryavenko.
	02:15	Jiri Sekac hits Dmitri Yudin into the boards and his helmet comes off. He seems shaken up and falls on his way to the bench, but play continues.
	01:47	SKA goes down into the Lev zone, first shot misses the net, but a chance by Tikhonov is stopped and covered by Petri Vehanen.
	01:10	Now David Ullstrom with a great chance and a great save by Alexander Salak, Oystrick the slapper from the point kicked out by Salak too.
	00:55	Lev with the early forray into the SKA zone, Ullstrom with a chance at the side of the net.
	00:01	Game started.
		The national anthems of the Russian Federation and the Czech Republic are complete and the opening faceoff is moments away. Lev Praha is wearing their home red uniforms with blue and white trim, red NY Rangers-style pants and blue helmets. SKA is wearing their road white uniforms, also of NY Rangers road-white design, except with blue pants and white helmets.
		Starting Lineups: Lev Praha: Vehanen (Lukáš) – Ševc, Mäenpää, Oystrick, Němec, Jaakola, O'Byrne, Nakládal – Azevedo, Novotný, Ullström – Sekáč, Zackrisson, Thörnberg – Riderwall, Vrána, Klepiš – Birner, Cingel, Řepík – Matai. SKA St. Petersburg: Salák (Nalimov) – Semyonov, Chudinov, Kalinin, Kuteykin, Yudin, Alexandrov – Kovalchuk, Shipachyov, Ketov – Skachkov, Tikhonov, Červenka – Panarin, Kuchryavenko, Ponikarovsky – Burdasov, Sigaryov, Makarov – Malyshev. Referees: Gofman, Bondar – Morozov, Putilin.
		Everyone in the HC LEV Praha camp must be sad to see November end. Not only are they forced to say goodbye to the mustaches that they cultivated over the 30 days, but on the ice it was the club´s most successful month ever. They won eight of nine games, collecting 22 of 27 points, finishing with a road trip where they took 11 of 12. The team was as low as 9th in the conference at one time but has now climbed into 5th with 54 points. "It is obvious that we´re all more confident," says Martin Ševc, who scored an overtime goal against Avtomobilist in the month and leads team defencemen in scoring with 13 points. "Especially the way we are playing late in games -- protecting leads and getting late tying goals. This is exactly what we need and we have to keep it up as long as possible." It was a big improvement over October, where the team let several points escape late in games and went 5-7 in 12 contests, finishing up with a forgetable game in St Petersburg on October 30. In that game, they played the KHL´s best team to a scoreless tie through 40 minutes, but then the roof caved in on them in the third period, as SKA scored five times to win 5-0. Now they open December against the very same team. To be fair, Lev is far from the only team that SKA has frustrated this season. They´ve won 24 of their first 32 games, outscoring opponents 110-58 in the process, and their 71 points put them six clear of both conference rival Dynamo Moscow and Eastern Conference leader Ak Bars Kazan. They have the league´s top-ranked defence and it starts in goal, where Alexander Salák has been spectacular. In 20 games he has a miniscule 1.49 goals-against average, a .944 save percentage and 3 shutouts, including the 30-save doughnut against Lev in the teams´ first meeting. He´ll be going head-to-head with Petri Vehanen this time around. On defence, they´re led by Dmitri Kalinin´s 16 points -- his 6 goals include 4 on the power play, so the Lev penalty killers will have to be weary of him. Maxim Chudanov also has 6 goals and 11 points. Up front, of course, they are led by Ilya Kovalchuk, the former Atlanta Thrasher and New Jersey Devil one of the most feared scorers in the league, and he has feasted against Lev more than any other in the league with 7 points in three previous games, including 3 assists in the October 30 meeting. Overall, he has 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points. "It´s experience, that´s what it is," says Lev defenceman Jakub Nakládal. "Kovalchuk is a top player. He knows exactly what he´s doing. For two periods you might not notice him, but then gets three points and wins them the game." One point behind him is a Roman Červenka, who played most of last season with the Calgary Flames and a few games for Lev during the NHL lockout. Červenka is the team´s top playmaking centre, as 21 of his 29 points are from assists. Following them are other names that are familiar to international hockey fans: Viktor Tikhonov, Artemi Panarin, Patrick Thoresen, Vadim Shipachyov and Tony Mårtensson. They have some very skilled players," says Martin Thörnberg. "We have to again play solid defence and also be good on offence. We need to spend a lot of time in the attacking zone and not take unnecessary penalties. That will be crucial if we want to stick to our game."
		Welcome. This game starts at 19:00 CET local time in Prague, 22:00 MSK local time in St Petersburg, 13:00 EST.

Commentary by

Derek OBrien

@@Djob76

Goals & lineups Match log

Goals and assists: 21. Azevedo (Ullstrom), 27. Birner (p.s.), 40. Repik (Vrana) – 3. Panarin (Kucheryavenko), 33. Shipachyov (Makarov), 41. Tihonov (Semyonov, Panarin), dec. p.s. Kovalchuk

Lev Praha: Vehanen (Lukáš) – Ševc, Mäenpää, Oystrick, Němec, Jaakola, O'Byrne, Nakládal – Azevedo, Novotný, Ullström – Sekáč, Zackrisson, Thörnberg – Riderwall, Vrána, Klepiš – Birner, Cingel, Řepík – Matai

SKA St. Petersburg: Salák (Nalimov) – Semyonov, Chudinov, Kalinin, Kuteykin, Yudin, Alexandrov – Kovalchuk, Shipachyov, Ketov – Skachkov, Tikhonov, Červenka – Panarin, Kuchryavenko, Ponikarovsky – Burdasov, Sigaryov, Makarov – Malyshev

Referees: Gofman, Bondar – Morozov, Putilin

1st period
	02:50
	06:28
	10:49
	16:25
1st intermission
2nd period
	20:48
	26:30
	26:30
	29:26
	32:44
	34:08
	34:34
	35:08
	36:09
	39:12
2nd intermission
3rd period
	40:54
	43:52
	46:54
After 3rd period
Overtime
before shootout

after shootout