Offside Metallurg on the shoot-in. Faceoff at centre ice.

Metallurg's top line on the ice, Vehanen makes the save and covers.

Wrister from Khabarov doesn't get through.

Wrister from Potekhin, blocker save Vehanen.

Finally the puck is deflected out of play in the Lev zone after 12:27 of continuous play since the opening faceoff of the 3rd period. Faceoff outside the Lev blueline.

Cingel from a sharp angle, deflected wide.

Wrister from Kazionov, deflected wide.

Shot from centre by Pare, deflected to the corner by Vehanen.

9 minutes without a whistle.

Backhander from Ullstrom, stick save Koshechkin.

Vrana tries to find Thornberg going to the net, deflects it wide.

Still no whistles in this 3rd period after 7 minutes.

Pare from a sharp angle, stick save Vehanen.

Brent the shot, stick save Vehanen.

Mikko Maenpaa the slapper from the point, stick save Koshechkin.

Icing Lev.

Lev with control off the draw, shot from Vrana, caught and held by Koshechkin.

Matai cuts in and takes a backhander from a sharp angle, Koshechkin covers it and we get some pushing and shoving after the whistle.

Wrister from Potekhin, caught and held by Vehanen.

Icing Lev.

Wrister from the point is blocked and Lev start back the other way as they get back to full strength.

They passed it around the perimeter but didn't get any shots, then Lev clear it.

Icing Lev.

Shots in this 2nd period are 5-1 Lev, 13-9 in the game.

Now Maenpaa's shot is blocked.

Nakladal's wrister from the point is deflected wide.

Metallurg really having trouble getting any offence going, as Lev playing strong zone defence.

Sekac with the backhander wide.

Icing Metallurg.

Offside Lev.

Long wrister from the point, directed to the corner by Vehanen.

Icing Metallurg

Turnover in the Metallurg zone, shot from Matai from the high slot, blocked.

David Ullstrom with the wrister, deflected out of play.

Ullstrom playing his first game since the game 1 of the 2nd round against Donetsk, when he suffered an upper-body injury.

Play moves into the Lev zone off the draw, early shot on Vehanen, play continues.

Puck deflected out of play in the Lev zone, faceoff inside.

Tim Brent the wrister, pad save Vehanen.

Vrana's shot from the high slot deflects wide.

Lev back at full strength, as they try to break out of their own zone.

One-timer from Platonov sails wide.

Another shot from Oystrick, declected out of play with just :03 left in the penalty. Faceoff outside the Metallurg zone.

Oystrick's slapper deflected wide.

Sekac's wrister is blocked.

Lev go back to the attack, Koshechkin makes another save and covers. Exactly 1:00 left in the major penalty.

Finally Koshechkin makes the save on a wrister from Sekac and holds on with 2:39 left in the penalty.

Now Nemec, deflected wide.

Maenpaa the slapper, blocked.

Slapper from Oystrick, just wide.

Metallurg clear it, Lev regroup . . .

Offside Lev.

And Lev come back the other way, shot by Novotny, glove save Koshechkin and he hangs on.

Platonov drops to Antipov for a slapper, kicked out by Vehanen.

Lev clearing attempt goes right on Koshechkin on goal, so no icing.

And the puck comes outside the zone and the penalty ends.

Mozyakin's shot tipped wide, Metallurg pressure continues.

Lev with two quick clears, no Metallurg shots yet.

O'Byrne the slapper from the point, deflected wide.

Bouncing puck in the slot in front of the Lev goal, Petri Vehanen manages to pounce on it to get a stoppage.

First shot for Metallurg, Osala from a sharp angle, pad save Vehanen.

Lev's Jiri Sekac gets the game's first shot on goal, a long wrister that Vitaly Koshechkin catches and holds for a faceoff.

One minute passed, still no shots or stoppages.

The pre-game festivities are now finished and the opening faceoff is moments away.

Metellurg Magnitogorsk is wearing their home navy blue uniforms with red, silver and white trim, white numbers navy blue pants and helmets. Lev Praha is wearing their road white uniforms with blue and red trim, red numbers, red NY Rangers-style pants and white helmets.

And now the Russian national anthem, "Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii".

Now the Czech national anthem, "Kde domov můj" is being played.

The arena lights are dark and the two teams are being introduced, player-by-player, with a spotlight and music.

Starting Lineups:

Metallurg Magnitogorsk: Koshechkin (Pechursky) – Biryukov, Antipin, Khabarov, Tereschenko, Ibragimov, Lee, Malenkikh – Mozyakin, Zaripov, Kovář – Potekhin, Kazionov, Paré – Yunkov, Kosov, Platonov – Malinovsky, Osala, Brent – Timkin.

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

Referees: Bulanov, Kulakov. Linesmen: Birin, Zakharenkov.

The wait is over, and on Friday it´s finally time for the Gagarin Cup Finals to begin, as Mike Keenan´s Metallurg Magnitogorsk host Kari Jalonen´s Lev Praha in game 1. Both of these teams bring a lot of strengths into the final, but most seem to believe it will be a battle between Metallurg´s offence and Lev´s defence.

Both teams have marched through their respective conferences with little difficulty. In the East, Metallurg beat Admiral Vladivostok 4-1, Sibir Novosibirsk 4-0 and Salavat Yulaev Ufa 4-1. In the West, Lev beat Medveščak Zagreb 4-0, Donbass Donetsk 4-2 and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4-1.

Two strong teams, without a doubt. Still, the Russian media seem to be counting on Magnitogorsk is huge favourites, which probably shouldn´t be surprising. They ran away with the Eastern Conference title this year with 109 regular season points and possess the most dangerous forward line in the league. Lev, meanwhile was third place in the West with 99 points and benefited from the top two teams being upset in the first two rounds. They´re also a relatively unknown team in Russia, without any huge stars and playing only their second season in the KHL.

"I haven´t been following what they´re saying in the Russian newspapers, but I understand why they would say Metallurg is the favourite and I´m okay with that," says Lev coach Kari Jalonen, who doesn´t seem to mind his team´s position heading into this series. Asked why they are an underdog, he answered, "I think (our success) is a total surprise since it´s all happened very quickly."

Another factor that makes Metallurg big favourites in the eyes of many is their seemingly unstoppable top line. Sergei Mozyakin, Jan Kovář and Danis Zaripov were the top three scorers in the KHL during the regular season and they've continued their exploits into the playoffs.

The trio and the Metallurg power play were difficult for Lev to stop during the regular season. In the two meetings between the teams, the line combined for 11 points. Lev almost won at home on October 7th, but Metallurg tied the game late in the third period and then won it in overtime, with both goals coming with the man advantage. The winning goal was scored by Chris Lee, whose 31 points during the regular season were third among KHL defencemen.

In the return match-up on January 5th in Magnitogorsk, Lev held a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes, but again Metallurg´s big guns came on in the third period, eventually winning 4-2. For Lev, it was their only loss in a stretch of 11 games from December 11th to January 19th.

"Either of the games could have gone either way," said Lev´s Calle Ridderwall, who scored both goals in the second game. "We could have won if the puck had bounced our way. Anyway, it was a close game and it´s good to get these games before the playoffs."

Lev goaltender Petri Vehanen will have to be at his best to stop this offensive juggernaut. Fortunately, he seems to be playing at his best right now. In the five-game Western Final against Lokomotiv he surrendered only 6 goals and had 2 shutouts, stopping 145 of 151 shots. In the whole playoffs, the 36-year-old Finn is 10-3 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .939 save percentage. At the other end, Vasily Koshechkin´s numbers are very similar -- 12-2, 1.66, .944 and 2 shutouts.

Magnitogorsk in playoffs:

Top Scorers

1. Mozyakin (LW) – 19 pts (7+12)
2. Kovář (RW) -16 pts (6+10)
3. Zaripov (C) – 13 pts (7+6)
4. Ibragimov (D) – 6 pts (0+6)
5. Lee (D) – 5 pts (2+3)
6. Paré (C) – 5 pts (1+4)

Goalie

Koshechkin – 12-2, 1.66, .944, 2 SO

Lev in playoffs:

Top Scorers

1. Thörnberg (RW) – 11 pts (6+5)
2. Vrána (C) -10 pts (6+4)
3. Azevedo (RW) – 9 pts (5+4)
4. Řepík (RW) – 9 pts (4+5)
5. Oystrick (D) – 9 pts (3+6)
6. Kapanen (C) – 9 pts (2+7)

Goalie

Vehanen – 10-3, 1.67, .939, 2 SO

Welcome. Game 1 of the Gagarin Cup Finals starts at 19:00 YEKT local time in Magnitogorsk, 15:00 CEST in Prague, 09:00 EDT.