Into the last minute, now, fans of both teams standing and cheering, though for different reasons, I would think.

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

Lev seems content to kill off the clock now, just circling back every time they get the puck and playing keep-away.

Shot attempt by Thornberg hits a stick and deflects out of play. Faceoff in the Slovan zone.

Repik the long shot from the neutral zone, stick save Janus, who then clears it out of the zone himself.

Slovan back at full strength, Lev 1/2 on the power play, play in the Slovan zone.

Michal Vondrka rushes the puck shorthanded and takes a shot, save Vehanen, and he freezes it for a faceoff in the Lev zone.

Nakladal a slapper from the point, stick save Janus.

Offside Lev.

Vrana the wrister on a Lev rush, blocker save Janus.

Mihalik with a long shot from outside the blueline, pad save Vehanen.

Puck deflected out of play in the Lev zone, so their power play is backed up in their own end with :56 remaining.

Ullstrom tries to find Novotny for the hat trick goal, but his shot from in close hits Janus in the chest, and the Slovan goalie covers it. He's been a busy man today.

Jakub Klepis fires a slapper that goes out of play, and there's now a discussion to where the faceoff is going to be. It's inside, so apparently it hit Janus and not the crossbar.

Crowd around the Slovan net, Jaakola shoots from the point, falls in the crease and is cleared away.

Both Lev players out of the box, Ullstrom shoots from the wing, pad save Janus.

Another shots from Skoula, this one hits Vehanen and then is cleared.

Slovan pass it around and get a one-time slapper from Skoula, misses the net, rings around the boards and out of the zone.

Slovan rush, Mario Bliznak's wrister hits Vehanen in the shoulder.

Slapper from Petr Vrana, hits Janus in the shoulder and goes out of play.

Offside Lev.

Thornberg with a burst of speed, hits Janus in the shoulder with his wrister from the left wing.

Tomas Mikus tried to get to a loose puck in the Lev zone but was in too deep by the time he reached it and fell heavily into the boards.

Big hit by Jakub Klepis on Martin Stajnoch into the boards, firing up the Lev bench.

Offside Lev.

More Lev pressure but the puck is finally deflected out of play. Zackrisson looks at the ref in disbelief after he was slewfooted by Tomas Mojzis in front and there was no call.

Icing Slovan -- they got possession off the draw but then a head-man pass from their own line missed and went all the way down.

Offside Slovan.

Now a backhander from Ridderwall, stick save Janus.

Low slapper from Novotny entering the Slovan zone, stick save Janus.

Offside Slovan.

Quick shot off the draw by Repik, Janus had to be quick to get a blocker on it.

Icing Slovan, icings are now 4-0 against Slovan.

Miroslav Satan tried a backhand from a weak angle, stick save Vehanen who then head-mans the puck the other way and Petr Vrana's shot is stopped and held by Jaroslav Janus.

Icing Slovan.

Offside Lev, then a big collision between Sekac and Brejcak after the whistle. Some words are exchanged but nothing happens.

And just after the penalty ends the puck is deflected out of play. Faceoff in the Lev zone, both teams playing at full strength.

A pair of attempts by Mojzis, misses the first, second is blocked.

High shot by Miklik, blocker save Vehanen and the puck is cleared again.

Slovan enters the zone, Sevc ices it back out.

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

Azevedo tries to cut out front and stuff the puck in, denied by Janus, then the puck goes out to Novotny and Janus catches his shot to stop play.

Lev 3rd line buzzing in the Slovan zone, finally Janus covers the loose puck with his team in disarray around him.

Icing Slovan.

Now a long Slovan shoot-in is deflected out of play. Faceoff outside the Lev blueline.

Puck goes out of play in the Slovan zone, faceoff inside.

Icing Slovan.

Nakladal joins the rush and shoots from the right wing, pad save Janus.

Quickly back the other way Olvecky shoots but Vehanen stops it and holds on.

Petr Vrana circles the net and shoots wide.

Shot from Oystrick, save Janus, Thornberg on the rebound but Janus covers again. He's been busy this first period.

Faceoff win for Novotny and a quick shot from the point by Maenpaa, right on Janus and he holds on again.

David Ullstrom shoots on a rush, hits Janus, the rebound is loose but finally Janus covers.

Tomas Mojzis attempts a slapper from the point off the draw but breaks his stick.

Jiri Novotny now slides into his own goaltender and dislodges the net, so we'll have a faceoff in the Lev zone.

Azevedo comes out from behind the net and tries to find somebody in front, but his linemates are all tied up.

Martin Bakos with a shot for Slovan, stick save Vehanen.

Play now stopped in the Slovan zone, the referee indicating that Jakub Klepis was stationed in the crease. Faceoff outside.

Another save by Janus and another faceoff upcoming in the Slovan zone.

Faceoff win for Zackrisson and a quick shot by Oystrick, stick save Janus.

Another Lev shoot-in goes off of Janus's stick and over the glass. Faceoff in the Slovan zone.

Now a Lev shoot-in goes right on Janus, and we've got some pushing and shoving after the whistle. It started with Novotny having words with one of the Slovan players and Martin Sevc came in there to stir things up.

The crowd has now been dispersed, no penalties, and we'll have a faceoff to Janus's left.

Cingel circles the net, centres for Matai but he one-times it wide.

Now a dump-in from Hudacek, right on Vehanen, who holds it for another faceoff.

This game getting physical already, which is not a surprise. Several big hits thrown around.

And Petri Vehanen now makes a glove save and holds it for the game's first stoppage.

Miklik, Slovan's leading scorer takes the first shot of the game, a high wrister blockered away by Vehanen.

The national anthems of the Slovak and Czech republics have been played and the opening faceoff is moments away.

Lev Praha is wearing their red home uniforms with blue and white trim, red NY Rangers-style pants and blue helmets. Slovan Bratislava is wearing their white road uniforms with navy and crimson trim, navy pants and white helmets.

Starting lineups:

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

HC Slovan Bratislava: Janus (Kopřiva) – Sigalet, Škoula, Mojžíš, Mihálik, Brejčák, Štajnoch, Luža – Vondrka, Bližňák, Miklík . Bartovič, Ölvecký, Radivojevič – Hudáček, Štastný, Šatan – Bakoš, Matoušek, Mikúš – Daňo.

Referees: Sjoqvist, Sergeyev – Lazarev, Otmakhov..

The atmosphere inside this building is already electric, and it hasn't even started yet. This game has been sold out for weeks, and the streets around the arena have been full of Slovan fans all day. Expect an emotional start to this one.

The fans will come from near and far as Lev and Slovan renew the Czecho-Slovakian derby. Fans of both team eagerly anticipate every time they meet up, and this time is no different. Fans will be jammed into every nook and cranny of Tipsport Arena -- a building that has many nooks and crannies -- among them the usual large throng of Slovan fans who will make the five-hour journey to see their favourite team play.

Lev Praha and Slovan Bratislava will also battle for three points in the KHL standings. It´s an important game for Lev, too. Their recent win over CSKA ran their road winning streak to six games, but they haven´t been as good at home, picking up just 5 of 12 points on their most recent home stand.

"We´ve been playing better on the road than at home," said goaltender Atte Engren, who has played in Lev´s last two games -- one a loss at home and one a win on the road for his first KHL shutout. "Teams visiting us tend to play really defensively -- shutting us down the whole game. On the road, we´ve been able to play responsible defensively while still scoring."

In the tightly-compacted Western Conference, where only six points separate third from seventh, they´ll want to buck that recent trend and pick up all three in this game. That may be easier said than done, though. Despite the disaster that has been Slovan´s season so far -- 44 points, putting them 13th out of 14 teams in the conference, 11 out of a playoff spot -- Slovan has dominated the rivalry to this point. They won three of four meetings last year, and won 5-2 when the teams met in Bratislava on October 15.

"They´ll be a very tough opponent," said Jiří Sekáč, whose two points in Moscow puts him into the team lead with 18 on the season. "We cannot give anything less than 100 percent, as they will do the same. We have to do a good job."

Slovan´s troubles this year have stemmed from being unable to keep the puck out of their own net, with a defence that is ranked 23rd out of 28 teams in the league. Jaroslav Janus had a career year in goal last season, but has not got the same help in front of him this year.

Up front, their led in scoring by the trio of Michel Miklík, Milan Bartovič and Michal Vondrka with 26, 22 and 20 points each, while Tomáš Netík leads the team with 11 goals. One of the bigger names on the team, Miroslav Šatan, has played in only four games so far after re-signing with the team in November. On defence, the team´s top three scorers all spent part of last season with Lev: Michal Sersen, Tomáš Mojžíš and Martin Škoula.

Welcome. This game starts at 16:00 CET local time in Prague and Bratislava, 10:00 EST.