Offside Lokomotiv on the pass, faceoff back outside their own blueline.

Vrana with the faceoff win and O'Byrne with the shot from the point, stopped and held again by Sanford.

Sanford stops a shot from Thornberg with traffic in front. Then Zackrisson takes a shot to the face after the whistle.

Wrister from Ullstrom, pad save Sanford.

Yakovlev's shoot-in gets away from him and it sails over the end glass and into the netting. Faceoff at centre ice.

Sevc leads another Lev rush, drops for Zackrisson who winds and fires a slapper, but it's deflected out of play. Faceoff in the Loko zone.

Back the other way, Galimov's shot lands on the back of the net. Some people in the building thought it was in the net, but no. Faceoff inside, as it was apparently deflected.

Offside Lev. We had a hit after the whistle and now some pushing and shoving. There was some emotion earlier in the game but it had settled down somewhat until now. Nothing comes of this, though. It seems the referees have put the whistles away.

Lev shoot-in hits a glove on the Loko bench, faceoff outside the blueline.

Holos barely misses the far post, then Lev starts back quickly but don't get a shot.

Icing Lokomotiv.

Now the puck goes high and hits the netting in the Loko zone, faceoff outside.

Slapper from Chernikov misses.

And quickly back the other way again, Lev go offside.

Rush the other way, Redlihs tried to pick the low far corner but missed.

Low wrister from Klepis, pad save Sanford.

Offside Lev on the pass, faceoff at centre ice.

Wrister from Thornberg, blocker save Sanford.

Offside Lokomotiv.

Play now in the Loko zone, Ridderwall flips a shot on goal, gloved and held by Sanford.

Igor Musatov leads a Loko rush, forced to the outside and backhands it wide.

Icing Lokomotiv.

The puck is frozen under a pile of players deep in the Lev zone. Faceoff inside.

Offside Lev and immediately upon the whistle Sandford goes over and has words with the referee, obviously he's upset that there was no penalty call against Klepis. I didn't see exactly how the collision happened.

Now a collision between Jakub Klepis and Curtis Sandford in the Loko crease, both players go down, play continues with no call.

Now Jiri Novotny from just inside the blueline, right on Sanford and he holds on again.

Lev rush, Azevedo fires a wrister wide.

Petr Vrana with a backhander from a weak angle, glove save Sanford and he holds on.

Now Lev called for icing -- having trouble entering the Loko zone.

Offside Lev on the shoot-in, faceoff at centre ice.

Mikus from the point, butterfly save Sanford.

David Ullstrom fires a wrister over the crossbar.

Puck out of play in the Loko zone, faceoff inside.

Redlihs with the wrister from the top of the slot, stick save Vehanen and he freezes it.

Daniil Apalkov was down on the ice and needed assistance from the training staff, but he's now up and off to the bench.

Jiri Sekac coming back onto the ice for the first time since taking that big hit from Pashnin.

Offside Lokomotiv.

Jiri Sekac now back on the Lev bench, so he's ok to play it seems. We'll see if he returns to the ice this period.

Another shorthanded rush by Lev, Zackrisson with the high wrister, Sanford traps it against his body to stop play with just :06 left in their power play, Loko backed up in their own zone.

Lev with the shorthanded rush but Novotny fans on the shot.

Icing Lokomotiv with 1:21 left in their power play.

Topi Jaakola fires a slapper just as the first penalty ends, Sanford catches it and puts it back in play as his team goes to the power play.

Lev goes offside on the stretch pass with :56 left in the power play, faceoff back in their own zone.

Novotny from the boards, Azevedo re-directs it wide.

Puck iced for a 3rd time, Lev goes offside with just 1:48 left in the major penalty.

... and the puck is iced again. Lev starts back again.

Play at the side of the net, Vrana tries to stuff it in, nothing doing.

Loko ices, Lev regroups.

Gragnani across to Oystrick, wrister and a blocker save by Sanford.

Now Alexander Chernikov with a long wrister, Vehenan juggled it but eventually freezes the puck.

Quickly back the other way Pashnin shoots, pad save Vehanen.

Wrist shot by Ridderwall on a Lev rush, kicked out by Sanford.

Back after a brief connection problem. Lev has carried play most of this period. Faceoff upcoming in the Lokomotiv zone to Sanford's right.

Loko back the other way, Petrov's shot hits Vehanen in the arm.

Lev goes up ice and Azevedo flips a shot on Sanford, who catches and holds it. :38 more of 4-on-4.

Icing Lev. They'll go to the power play in :57, still 4-on-4 for now.

Azevedo with a behind-the-back pass to Sevc at the Loko blueline, he fires it wide.

Sekac with a big hit on Gorokhov, Loko bench up in arms thinking there should've been a penalty, play continues.

Lokomotiv kills off the penalty without giving up a shot. The puck stayed in their end most of their time but was kept to the boards and the corners most of the time.

Some really physical play so far in this game, Lev captain Jiri Novotny throws a big check into the boards, Lev called for icing again.

Vadim Khlopotov with a chance in front, Vehanen keeps it out with the paddle down, then Lev gets called for icing.

Dmitri Maltsev tries to win a race to a loose puck in the Lev zone, gets to the puck but can't free himself from the defenceman to get a decent shot on goal.

Chernikov from behind the net feeds Galimov, hits the side of the net.

Igor Musatov wrists it wide from the slot.

Repik with a wraparound attempt, Sanford gives him nothing.

Now the puck is deflected out of play in the Lokomotiv zone, faceoff inside.

Faceoff win for Zackrisson, Juraj Mikus with the shot from the point, pad save Sanford.

Icing Lokomotiv.

Martin Sevc down the right wing fires a wrister, pad save Sanford. Sevc is a big, physical defenceman who is also prone to lead the rush.

Icing Lokomotiv, ending about 5 minutes of continuous play.

Martin Thornberg shoots in from the neutral zone, Sanford again steers it to the corner.

Justin Azevedo with a long shot steered aside by Sanford, might have been headed wide.

Michal Repik fires a slapper wide.

Daniil Apalkov gets Lokomotiv's first shot from the slot, Petri Vehanen the butterfly save.

Calle Ridderwall of Lev with the game's first shot on goal, stick save Curtis Sanford.

Icing Lev.

The national anthems of the Russian Federation and Czech Republic are complete, and the opening faceoff is moments away.

Lev Praha is wearing their home red uniforms with blue and white trim, white numerals and lion logo, red NY Rangers-style pants and blue helmets. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is wearing their road white uniforms with red and blue trim, red numerals and famous "A" logo, red pants and white helmets.

Starting Lineups:

Lev Praha: Vehanen (Lukáš) – Ševc, Gragnani, Oystrick, Němec, Jaakola, O'Byrne, Mikuš – Azevedo, Novotný, Ullström – Sekáč, Zackrisson, Thörnberg – Ridderwall, Vrána, Klepiš – Pacovský, Cingel, Řepík – Matai

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl: Sanford (Kolesnik) – Lyubushkin, Gorokhov, Kronwall, Pashnin, Yakovlev, Holos, Vishnevsky, Zotov – Konkov, Apalkov, Plotnikov – Musatov, Khlopotov, Rēdlihs – Chernikov, Petrov, Galimov – Korneyev, Kapustin, Maltsev

Referees: Vasiliev, Kulakov Linesmen: Alyoshin, Nesterov.

Lev Praha has had a fair bit of success against Lokomotiv Yaroslavl so far, taking 7 of 9 possible points in three meetings dating back to last year. In their meeting earlier this year in Yaroslavl on October 26, Lev turned in a dominant road performance, outshooting Lokomotiv 41-17. Petri Vehanen stopped every shot he faced and the visitors got goals from Marc-André Gragnani and Patrik Zackrisson to win 2-0.

That game was reflective of the main problem that has plagued Lokomotiv this season -- they are currently last in the KHL with only 59 goals scored in 32 games. Amazingly, they remain in a playoff position because they have also surrendered only 59 goals -- best in the league.

One of the biggest reasons for the team´s strong defensive numbers has been the play of Curtis Sanford in goal. Lev got a taste of that in October when he stopped 39 of 41 shots, and his numbers are right near the top of the league. His .948 save percentage is second-best in the KHL, his 1.56 goals-against average is tied for second best, and his 5 shutouts are tied for tops with three other goalies. Backup Vitali Kolesnik´s numbers are also respectable when he´s called into action.

Offensively, only three players on the team have made double digits in points: Sergei Plotnikov with 18, Daniil Apalkov with 15 and Yegor Averin with 10. Swede Staffan Kronwall leads defencemen with 8 points, while Alexei Vasiliev has 7 points and leads the club with 4 power-play goals.

David Ullström had 4 points in 18 games with Lokomotiv, but since coming over to Lev he has found a home on the top line, showing great chemistry with Justin Azevedo and Jiří Novotný.

Welcome. This game starts at 19:00 CET local time in Prague, 22:00 MSK in Yaroslavl, 13:00 EST.