Ak Bars reaffirms Russian dominance of European Champions Cup (Con't)
The Ak Bars jumped out quickly in the first period, out-shooting their opponents by a lopsided 18-3 margin. But after Zinoviev and Nikulin got Kazan off to a quick 2-0 lead, goaltender Christopher Heino-Lindberg (a Montreal Canadiens prospect), took over the game for Färjestad. The crew from Karlstad then clawed back to make the most of its limited chances. First, Emil Kaberg bulldozed a loose puck over the goal line, plowing goalie Alexander Eremenko into the net. Former NHLer Jonas Höglund then knotted the game 2-2 on a deflection to send the teams off tied 2-2 after the first period.
In the second period, Färjestad grabbed a 3-2 lead as a perfect Mathias Johansson pass enabled Esa Pirnes to hammer a one-timer past Eremenko. The Ak Bars tied the game 3-3 on the powerplay as Morozov (who collected four points in the tilt) roofed a shot over a helpless Heino-Lindberg. Just 35 seconds later, Nikulin weaved a shot through a screen past the FBK goalie to regain the lead for the Ak Bars.
Färjestad came out fighting in the final period and quickly cashed in on a five-on-three power-play opportunity. Pelle Prestberg did the honors, blasting a Janne Niskala pass over Eremenko. Just 25 seconds later, Färjestad scored an apparent go-ahead goal by Christian Söderström.
On the sequence, an Ak Bars defender appeared to knock the goal post off its moorings just before the shot crossed the line. A seven-minute replay delay followed. The verdict: no goal. At the 4:45 mark, Morozov was awarded a penalty shot, but couldn’t get the puck past Heino-Lindberg.
The game remained tied 4-4 as the clock ticked below seven minutes. Morozov made a strong move, creating a flurry around the net. Finally, Zaripov poked home the puck for a 5-4 lead. Färjestad pulled goaltender Heino-Lindberg in the final minute, desperately looking for an equalizer. Zaripov sealed the game with an empty-netter with just six seconds left, completing a 6-4 win for his team and a nine-point game for his line. For the game, Kazan outshot Karlstad 41 to 14.
Afterwards, Färjestad coach Tommy Samuelsson was in no mood to congratulate the Ak Bars. He was still angry about the disallowed goal and even angrier about several calls he believed referee Aleksei Rantala missed, particularly a Tomas Rodin penalty and an uncalled slew-footing of Jonas Frögren that preceded the game winning goal.
“Here we played perhaps our best game of the season and we didn’t get a fair chance to win it,” Samuelsson griped at the postgame press conference.
For their part, the Ak Bars pointed to their frequent territorial domination of play, heavy shot advantage and the virtually even distribution of penalty minutes as proof the more deserving team won.
The next day, Färjestad came out looking weary legged and dispirited against a rested HC Lugano club. The Swiss club, conversely, played disciplined hockey, out-hustling and out-skating FBK.
Defenseman Steve Hirschi pinched in to beat goalie Daniel Henriksson for a 1-0 lead. Midway through the second period, Sandy Jeannin collected a rebound goal to extend the lead to 2-0. Meanwhile, Lugano goalie Simon Zuger was barely tested on the 24 shots he faced. Lugano collected a last-minute power-pay goal by Raffaele Sannitz to top off a 3-0 shutout win.
With a pair of losses and nine goals allowed (to four scored) in two games Färjestad was doomed to a last-place finish in the tournament. Meanwhile, HC Lugano took its shot at upsetting the Ak Bar to earn a place in the finals.
Lugano put up a valiant fight, sticking to the technically sound defensive game that is the pet strategy of top Swiss club teams and the Swiss national program alike. Lugano limited the shots against and didn’t get sucked into chasing the Russian team around the defensive zone. But the Ak Bars top line was simply too much to handle.
Morozov (who tallied assists on every Kazan goal in the tilt) set up defenseman Proshkin for the game’s first goal at 12:48 of the first period. In the middle frame, Zinoviev did the honors to extend the lead to 2-0. Midway through the final stanza, the Ak Bars cashed in on a five-on-three power-play, with Zinoviev scoring again to provide the final 3-0 margin and win the Hlinka Division. Goaltender Mika Noronen turned aside all 22 shots he saw to earn the shutout.
HPK the newest Finnish finalist
Over in the Ragulin Division, HPK Hämeenlinna aimed to continue the trend of an SM-Liiga team facing the Russian Super League champs in the ECC championship game.
The path for HPK was carved out quickly, as the team from Hämeenlinna hammered Slovak entry Zilina 7-0 in the opener, talling twice in the first period, three times in the second and two more times in the third. HPK killed off a 5-on-3 disadvantage early in the game and then Juha Pekka-Loikas struck to give his club a lead it would never relinquish. HPK top scorer Toni Mäkiaho then put his club in the driver’s seat with a power-play goal. Mäkiaho later scored again, while Ville Leino racked up a goal and three assists. HPK goalie Miika Wiikman was flawless in turning back all 25 shots he saw.
In the next game, Slovak entry Zilina stunned their storied Czech counterparts, Sparta Prague by a 4-2 score, all but assuring HPK of winning the Ragulin Division round-robin even if they lost to Sparta in the last game. Michal Straka, the brother of New York Rangers star Martin Straka, broke a 2-2 tie early in the third period to put Zilina up for good. Sparta dominated early, racking up a 21-3 shot advantage in the first period (52 to 14 for the game) but grew frustrated by their inability to put the puck past Zilina goalie Imrich Petrik.
All HPK needed to do now to win the division was avoid getting blown out by Sparta. The Prague team needed to win by at least five goals to earn a berth in the finals. Instead, the Finnish squad got the better of play for most of the tilt, out-shooting Sparta 50 to 23 and winning the game 3-2. Janne Lahti staked HPK to an early lead. After Sparta battled back, Mäkiaho's scored a backbreaking short-handed goal midway through regulation and were never seriously pushed thereafter.
Suspense ends early
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