Khabarovsk – Spartak | 4:3 (1:0 after SO) | | | Admiral – Donbass | 4:1 (end) | | | Novokuznetsk – Dinamo Minsk | 3:2 (end) |
Novosibirsk – Medvescak | 0:2 (end) | | | Mytishchi – CSKA | 2:0 (end) | | | Riga – Lokomotiv | 4:1 (end) |
HC Slovan – SKA St. Petersburg | 2:3 (0:1 after SO) | | | Lev – Cherepovets | 3:1 (end) |
final
Lev Praha
3:1
(0:0, 1:1, 2:0)
Severstal Cherepovets
Derek OBrien
Goals and assists:
38. Vrana (Thornberg, Sevc), 56. Ridderwall (Sevc), 59. Thornberg (Novotny, Nemec) – 36. Gimbatov (Chernov)
Referees: Vasiliev, Baluska – Morozov, Putilin
Attendance:
Penalty missed:
Lev Praha:
Vehanen (Lukáš) – Ševc, Mäenpää, Oystrick, Němec, Jaakola, O'Byrne, Gragnani – Azevedo, Novotný, Ullström – Sekáč, Zackrisson, Thörnberg – Ridderwall, Vrána, Klepiš – Birner, Cingel, Řepík – Matai.
Subs:
Coach:
Severstal Cherepovets: Kasutin (Štěpánek) – Andersen, Guskov, Popov, Kiselevich, Stasenko, Yevseyenko, Sviazov – Videll, Berdnikov, Nikontsev – Zherdev, Antipov, Stolyarov – Kazakovtsev, Kovyrshin, Bukhnevich – Gimbatov, Chernov, Aumagin – Zemchenko.
Subs:
Coach:
Subs:
Coach:
Severstal Cherepovets: Kasutin (Štěpánek) – Andersen, Guskov, Popov, Kiselevich, Stasenko, Yevseyenko, Sviazov – Videll, Berdnikov, Nikontsev – Zherdev, Antipov, Stolyarov – Kazakovtsev, Kovyrshin, Bukhnevich – Gimbatov, Chernov, Aumagin – Zemchenko.
Subs:
Coach:
Referees: Vasiliev, Baluska – Morozov, Putilin
Attendance:
MARTIN THORNBERG wins a race for the puck in the neutral zone, dodges a poke-check attempt and then puts the puck into the empty net. Assists: Jiri Novotny, Ondrej Nemec.
They're sending 6 players to the faceoff now in the Lev zone, Kasutin is on the bench and the Severstal net is empty.
Coach Jalonen obviously expecting the same thing and wants to make sure his team is all on the same page as far as defensive coverage.
Martin Sevc led the rush and his initial shot was stopped by Kasutin, but the rebound came in front and CALLE RIDDERWALL got to it, moved to his backhand and fired it upstairs to give Lev their first lead of the game. Assist: Martin Sevc.
Whereas the second period was quite loosey-goosey, this period the teams have tightened up and we're not seeing many chances. Lots of play in the neutral zone and along the boards.
Shots on goal in the 2nd period (and game): Lev 11 (22), Severstal 8 (13).
Faceoffs: Lev 15/29 (Azevedo 5/9), Severstal 14/29 (Chernov & Kovyrshin 3/4).
Icetime leaders: Lev – Sevc 14:28, Severstal – Guskov 14:14.
3rd period begins at 20:35 CET, 14:35 EST.
All these chances and they finally bury one. Thornberg's first shot from the boards hit Kasutin in the pads, but the rebound went to the other side and PETR VRANA had a wide-open net and didn't miss. Assists: Martin Thornberg, Martin Sevc.
Another Lev turnover finally costs them. Two Lev players fall in the neutral zone leading to a 2-man breakaway and PAKHRUDIN GIMBATOV beats Vehanen along the ice between the legs. Assist: Pavel Chernov.
Shots on goal in the 1st period: Lev 11, Severstal 5.
Faceoffs: Lev 6/13 (Vrana 2/3), Severstal 7/13 (Chernov 3/4).
Icetime leaders: Lev – Sevc 7:53, Severstal – Guskov 7:37.
2nd period begins at 19:48 CET, 13:48 EST.
Lev Praha is wearing their home red uniforms with blue and white trim, red NY Rangers-style pants and blue helmets. Severstal Cherepovets is wearing their white road uniforms with a rather garish flame-like trim design of black and yellow-orange gradient, blue numerals, black pants and white helmets.
Lev Praha: Vehanen (Lukáš) – Ševc, Mäenpää, Oystrick, Němec, Jaakola, O'Byrne, Gragnani – Azevedo, Novotný, Ullström – Sekáč, Zackrisson, Thörnberg – Ridderwall, Vrána, Klepiš – Birner, Cingel, Řepík – Matai.
Severstal Cherepovets: Kasutin (Štěpánek) – Andersen, Guskov, Popov, Kiselevich, Stasenko, Yevseyenko, Sviazov – Videll, Berdnikov, Nikontsev – Zherdev, Antipov, Stolyarov – Kazakov, Kovyrshin, Bukhnevich – Pakhrudin, Chernov, Aumagin – Zemchenko.
Referees: Vasilyev, Baluska – Morozov, Putilin.
In that October 28 contest in Cherepovets, the Lions outshot Severstal 38-26, but only Jiří Sekáč managed to beat Jakub Štěpánek that game, who was brilliant against his former team. Trailing 1-0 in the third period, Severstal got goals from Anatoli Nikontsev and Vadim Berdnikov to win 2-1.
Štěpánek has been the workhorse in goal for Severstal this season, appearing in 29 of 31 games so far. Despite his team´s poor standing, his goals-against average is a fine 2.18, while the team average in the 130:40 that he´s not been in the net is over 7 (three goalies combined).
Besides Štěpánek there is another ex-Lion of sorts in the Severstal lineup. Forward Nikolai Zherdev, who attended Lev´s training camp, joined the team last week after playing the first have of the season with Spartak Moscow. He has 1 assist in three games. Swede Linus Videll leads the team in scoring with 18 points, while Nikolai Bushuyev is right behind him with 17 points and a club-leading 9 goals. They don´t get much production from the back end, with Finn Teemu Laakso being the only defenceman with more than 1 goal (2, both on the power play).
Lev enters this game in 6th place in the Western Conference with 55 points, one back of Donbass Donetsk, who eclipsed them after the Lions picked up only a single point in Monday´s 4-3 shootout loss to SKA St Petersburg. Still, the Lions have won 8 of their last 10, and both defeats came in extra time.
In Monday´s game, the top line clicked again, with David Ullström setting up Justin Azevedo for a beautiful goal -- along with captain Jiří Novotný, the trio has been brilliant in the five games they´ve played together. They also got goals from linemates Michal Birner and Michal Řepík, who always get tons of chances but have been snake-bitten of late.