The Erik Cole-Brad Richards-Blake Wheeler line skated at its best Thursday to lead the Red Stars to a win in the series opener, but St. Petersburg got help from unlikely sources as well. Youngsters Jonathan Huberdeau and Danis Zaripov chipped in with a combined 8 shots and 2 goals on Tuukka Rask and the Paris Rouges Eiffels.  Paris will have to do a better job when St. Petersburg’s top players are on the ice. The Richards line fired 15 shots at Rask and scored three goals and the all-star defense pairing of Kevin Bieksa and Brent Burns were plus 3. Burns, in particular, was outstanding with 3 shots, 4 hits and 3 blocked shots.

Huberdeau and Cole scored in the first period to the delight of another sellout crowd of 17,111, but Paris tied it in the second on goals by Josef Vasicek and Evgney Malkin.  Zaripov and Wheeler scored to put the Red Stars in front by two goals again before the second period was over. St. Petersburg outshot Paris 48-32, with a 24-shot bombardment in the first period making up half the Petrograd total. Both teams took their share of penalties and there were 3 powerplay goals scored, two by the winners.

There was some bad news for St. Petersburg in Game 1. Left winger Valtteri Filppula, who had scored 16 points in 18 playoff games coming into the series, strained a groin and will miss some time.  The Red Stars will have an important decision to make on figuring out who will take his spot on the second line. Artem Anisimov could move up a line or a center like Huberdeau or David Legwand could move there instead. Ryan Russell, who – by the way – was a Rouge Eiffel last year, is the only true left wing on the roster who can be called upon, and there is also veteran center Eric Belanger and 25-year-old Trevor Lewis, a right wing, ready to suit up.