DON 3:1 LEV | HC Donbass Donetsk - Lev Praha (KHL)

KHL

Novosibirsk – Metallurg M	1:2 (after OT)	\|	Salavat Yulaev – Barys	5:2 (end)	\|	Lokomotiv – SKA St. Petersburg	1:6 (end)
Donbass – Lev	3:1 (end)

final

HC Donbass Donetsk

3:1 (1:0, 1:0, 1:1)

Lev Praha

Monday 24.03.2014, 19:00 • Slovnaft Arena, Bratislava • KHL

		Game 4 was another battle, as every game of this series as been, and this one goes to Donbass 3-1 and we have a tied series. This has now been reduced to a best-of-three series, and we know we'll be going to game 6 at least. (21:09:23)
	60:00	Game over.
	59:37	Lev go right down and Vehanen makes a save, we get pushing and shoving after the whistle and maybe some penalties.
	59:24	Goal for Donbass! Lev never do get back into the zone but Donbass do and YEVGENI DADONOV finishes the play by backhanding the puck into the empty net. That will be the game. Assist: Maxim Yakutsenya.
	59:15	Donbass clear the zone, Lev having trouble re-entering.
	58:30	Lev with the dump-in, Vehanen goes to the bench for a 6th attacker.
	57:51	Offside Lev on the shoot-in, faceoff at centre ice.
	56:54	Oystrick's shot deflected nicely by Cingel but Laco gets a piece of it to keep it out.
	56:44	Nakladal to Klepis for the wrister, pad save Laco, then Maenpaa with a big slapper from the point, right on Laco, who hangs on this time.
	56:10	Dadonov enters the Lev zone and takes a wrister that goes wide.
	55:08	Goal for Lev! A brilliant little dump-in pass by Ondrej Nemec and JUSTIN AZEVEDO speeds past the Donbass defence, picks up the puck and beats Laco with a wrister glove side. Hold onto your hats, we could be in for quite a finish! Assists: Ondrej Nemec, Nathan Oystrick.
	54:40	Wrister from Thornberg, right on Laco, who holds on.
	53:15	Another Donbass 2-on-1, Wirtanen tries to work the give-and-go with Kaspar, but Vehanen manages to intercept the return pass, play continues.
	51:40	Cingel the low wrister, kicked out by Laco.
	51:29	Lev rush back up ice, long shot on Laco, who covers it.
	51:20	Lukas Kaspar blocks a shot then manages to rag the puck for the rest of the penalty, he ends up with it in the Lev zone.
	50:40	Finally Donbass ice it after immense Lev pressure, they're best of the game so far.
	50:05	Thornberg the shot, Sekac the rebound, mad scramble in front of the net, bodies everywhere, but the play continues.
	49:18	Donbass getting a penalty on the play as Repik took a stick in the face from Petteri Wirtanen just after he shot the puck. Huge power play coming up for Lev, they're 0/1.
	49:18	Sekac the slapper, pad save Laco, then he stops Repik on the rebound
	48:40	2-on-1 Donbass, O'Byrne gets a stick on it and deflects it out of play, faceoff in the Lev zone.
	48:29	Puck dumped on goal by Klepis, bounces to Laco, who covers.
	48:07	Varlamov the shot, hits Vehanen and deflects out of play, faceoff in the Lev zone.
	45:48	Icing Lev, who are now back at full strength.
	45:10	Dadonov the wrister from the faceoff dot, right on Vehanen, who holds on with :33 left in the penalty.
	44:27	Thornberg the backhander from the boards along the ice, steered aside by Laco.
	43:43	Lev getting a penalty now, Jakub Klepis for hooking. Donbass to the power play, they're 0/1.
	43:22	Teemu Laine the slapper from outside the blueline, Vehanen stops and covers it.
	42:05	Ondrej Nemec the wrister from the point, not sure if it got through to Laco or was blocked in front.
	41:37	Offside Lev.
	41:12	Puck out of play in the neutral zone, faceoff at centre ice.
	40:01	Start of 3rd period.
		The teams are on the ice and the 3rd period will begin shortly.
		Donbass add another goal in that second period, and the way they're playing defensively look to be where they want to be as far as tying the series. We've still got 20 minutes to go, though. Shots on goal in the 2nd period (and game): Donbass 9 (15), Lev 8 (22). Quality scoring chances: Donbass: 2 (4), Lev 3 (4). 3rd period begins at 20:35 CET, 15:35 EDT.
	40:00	2nd period finished.
	39:42	Puck deflected out of play in the neutral zone, faceoff outside the Lev line.
	39:16	Vrana from far out, Laco juggled it a bit but dives on the puck to stop play.
	37:58	Icing Lev.
	37:38	Cingel fires just wide from the top of the slot.
	36:43	Yakutsenya with a backhander from the slot, right on Vehanen holds on.
	34:22	Lev rush, shot by Klepis, right on Laco, who holds on.
	32:42	Cingel goes for the top corner but misses and it goes out of play untouched, faceoff outside the Donbass line.
	31:12	Now a shot from Kagarlitsky, right on Vehanen, who holds on.
	30:15	Klepis with the shot from the right wing, deflected on goal by Zackrisson and a big pad save by Laco, and then he stops Azevedo on the rebound.
	28:02	Goal for Donbass! Belukhin creates this goal down low, finds ALEXANDER TORYANIK, who appears to be tied up in front, but he manages to get his stick on the puck and put it upstairs on Vehanen for the 2-0 goal Assist: Yevgeni Belukhin.
	27:30	Icing Lev again.
	27:20	Icing Lev.
	26:47	Lukas Kaspar skates down the right wing, throws a weak-angle shot at Vehanen, easily handled.
	26:40	Icing Donbass.
	25:08	Sekac from the slot through traffic, Laco gets an arm on it at the last minute to tip it wide, but I don't think he got a good look at it.
	24:14	Shot from the point by Yakutsenya, pad save Vehanen.
	23:25	Long, looping shoot-in on Laco, catches it and drops it behind the net.
	22:40	O'Byrne again, blocked this time.
	22:22	O'Byrne from the point, turned aside by Laco.
	20:15	Icing Lev.
	20:01	Start of 2nd period.
		The teams are back on the ice and the 2nd period will begin shortly.
		Lev carried much of the play in that first period, with a lot of puck possession in the attacking zone, especially when they had a lengthy 2-man advantage. However, they weren't able to generate many quality chances to score, while Donbass had a couple of dangerous chances against the run of the play and scored on one of them. Shots on goal in the 1st period: Donbass 6, Lev 14. Quality scoring chances: Donbass 2, Lev 1. 2nd period begins at 19:47 CET, 14:47 EDT.
	20:00	1st period finished.
	19:51	Icing Lev.
	19:45	Wirtanen fires it in on Vehanen from the neutral zone, turned to the corner.
	19:37	Offside Lev.
	18:58	Matai from the left wing boards, stick save Laco.
	16:44	Goal for Donbass! They've been back on their heels for most of this period, but they get the first goal. Dadonov with the puck in the slot dished to Kaspar, who turned and found OSKARS BARTULIS sneaking in from the point, and he hammered it through the crowd and in. Assists: Lukas Kaspar, Yevgeni Dadonov.
	15:00	Donbass kills off both penalties and are now back at full strength.
	12:57	Oystrick the slapper from the point, pad save Laco, then it's iced.
	12:00	Donbass now getting a second penalty as Jiri Sekac took a high stick while battling for the puck along the boards. Petteri Wirtanen is the culprit, and Lev will have a two-man advantage for 1:44.
	11:44	Lev is getting the game's first power play, as Jan Kolar upends Marc-Andre Gragnani in the Donbass zone.
	10:55	Repik from a sharp angle, turned away by Laco.
	10:14	Lev go up ice, Sekac the wrister from the boards with Thornberg trying to provide a screen, but it hits Laco and he holds on again.
	09:41	Teemu Laine leads a Donbass rush and fires a backhander, kick save Vehanen, then Robitaille on the rebound and Vehanen has that too and covers it.
	09:28	Long-range shot by Cingel right on Laco, who holds on.
	08:21	Lev had the puck down low after the draw, but it squirts loose and Donbass ice it again.
	08:05	Icing Donbass.
	06:58	Thornberg with the backhander from a sharp angle, then Nemec a drive. Finally the puck goes out of play, faceoff upcoming in the Donbass zone. Conservative start to this game. That's just the second whistle of this game, and I have the shots at 3-1 Lev at this point.
	03:50	Jiri Sekac with a shot from the high slot through traffic, hits Laco and goes to the corner.
	02:00	Kagarlitsky with the shot from the boards, turned away by Vehanen for the first shot of the game.
	00:25	We get our first stoppage as there's a pile-up in the corner and Lev's Martin Thornberg is on top of the puck, Faceoff outside the Donbass zone.
	00:01	Game started.
		Then national anthems of the Czech Republic and Ukraine have been played, and game 4 will start shortly. Donbass Donetsk is wearing their home red uniforms with white, black and silver trim, black pants and helmets. Lev Praha is wearing their road white uniforms with blue and red trim, red NY Rangers-style pants and white helmets.
		Petri Vehanen returns to the Lev net after Atte Engren played (and won) game 3. His last appearance was Friday's four-overtime loss. Slovak Jan Laco returns to the Donbass net, he last played in game 1.
		Starting Lineups: HC Donbass Donetsk: Leighton (Laco) – Kolář, Koněv, Wilson, Podhradský, Bartulis, Razin, Silnitsky – Robitaille, Wirtanen, Laine – Yakucenya (C), Fedotěnko, Dadonov – Kagarlitsky, Varlamov, Kašpar – Belukhin, Toryanik, Zakharov. Lev Praha: Vehanen (Engren) – Němec, Oystrick, Gragnani, O'Byrne, Mäenpää, Nakládal, Mikúš, Cingel – Sekáč, Vrána, Thörnberg – Ridderwall, Kapanen, Řepík – Azevedo, Zackrisson, Klepiš – Kubalík, Pacovský, Matai. Referees: Ravodin, Gashilov. Linesmen: Metalnikov, Sirotkin.
		For Donbass, Randy Robitaille makes his first appearance of the series. He'll play on the top line with Petteri Wirtanen and Teemu Laine, as they continue to shuffle that top line. Kiiskinen is out.
		Lev Praha lead this series 2-1, but they're going to have to play game 4 without two of their top-line players from game 3. After Sunday's game, which Lev won 3-2 in overtime, there was an altercation between some Lev players and Donbass fans. As a result, Jiří Novotný and Michal Birner have been suspended each 1 game by the KHL and won't play tonight. Filling their places are Jakub Klepis and Calle Ridderwall, who have both missed games recently due to injury. The starting forward line will be red-hot Petr Vrana centring Jiri Sekac and Martin Thornberg.
		Welcome. Game 4 of this Western Conference Semifinal series starts at 19:00 CET local time in Bratislava and in Prgue, 20:00 EET in Donetsk, 14:00 EDT.

Commentary by

Derek OBrien

@@Djob76

Goals & lineups Match log

Goals and assists: 17. Bartulis (Kaspar, Dadonov), 29. Toryanik (Belukhin), 60. Dadonov (Yakutsenya) – 56. Azevedo (Nemec, Oystrick)

HC Donbass Donetsk: Laco (Leighton) – Kolář, Koněv, Wilson, Podhradský, Bartulis, Razin, Silnitsky – Robitaille, Wirtanen, Laine – Yakutsenya, Fedotěnko (C), Dadonov – Kagarlitsky, Varlamov, Kašpar – Belukhin, Toryanik, Zakharov.

Lev Praha: Vehanen (Engren) – Němec, Oystrick, Gragnani, O'Byrne, Mäenpää, Nakládal, Mikúš, Cingel – Sekáč, Vrána, Thörnberg – Ridderwall, Kapanen, Řepík – Azevedo, Zackrisson, Klepiš – Kubalík, Pacovský, Matai.

Referees: Ravodin, Gashilov. Linesmen: Metalnikov, Sirotkin

1st period
	11:44
	12:00
	16:44
1st intermission
2nd period
	28:02
2nd intermission
3rd period
	43:43
	49:18
	55:08
	59:24
Final