A quick report on what happened in Game 1 and what to look for in Game 2
Silfverberg strikes gold – Dublin and St. Petersburg got involved in a real track meet, with the Fighting Irish outshooting the Red Stars 42-34 and outscoring them by one. Jakub Silfverberg scored two powerplay goals, including the one that broke the 3-3 tie in the third period. St. Pete was two men down at the time with Brenden Dillon and Brent Burns in the penalty box. Silfverberg, a second-year right wing, now has 5 goals in the 8 career playoff games. Game 2: Dublin goalie Tim Thomas will be just a little fatigued going into Game 2 after facing 34 shots in Game 1. St. Petersburg would love to tire him out more. In three games against the Red Stars this season, Thomas has allowed 5 goals. His backup, Jonathan Bernier, has allowed 11 goals in 2 games against St. Petersburg. If Petrograd could fire another 40 or shots at Thomas on Friday, Dublin coach Alain Vigneault might have to put Bernier in for Game 3. And if Red Star goalie Pekka Rinne could “steal” Game 2, that could turn around the series in St. Petersburg’s favor.
Sea of Blue – Henrik Lundqvist was the king as he stopped 40 Gothenburg shots to lead the Jokerit to a 4-1 Game 1 win. The Devils outshot the home team, took just one penalty and seemed to do everything right, but Lundqvist was too good. Helsinki management might have given him the boost he needed to shine by handing every fan a blue “The King of Helsinki” T-shirt to create a sea of blue in the arena. Game 2: Gothenburg played exactly the kind of game they needed to to beat Helsinki on Wednesday, but they still lost. That unfortunate outcome will loom large when Helsinki puts up one of their typical 17 shots allowed-type games in this series. Gothenburg needs a better two-way game out of the top line of Zach Parise, Eric Staal and Martin St. Louis. The trio played nearly half the game and were all offense. They managed 17 shots on the Helsinki net, but they forgot about defense and were on the ice when Ryan Clowe scored the go-ahead goal.
Nope-itar – Without top scorer Anze Kopitar, who hurt an ankle a week earlier, Moscow Spartak was still able to put 6 goals on the scoreboard in a win against visiting Edinburgh. Picking up the offensive slack in Kopitar’s absence were Andrew Ladd (7 shots), Alexei Kalyuzhny (6) and Derek Roy (5). Game 2: If Kopitar can’t go, Alexei Ponikarovsky will get another chance to play. He did great in Game 1, assisting on two goals in just 5 minutes of ice time. Ladd and Kalyuzhny played well on the same line Wednesday and it will be interesting to see what Glen Gulutzan does with the lines when Kopitar is back. Edinburgh needs to shore things up defensively in front of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. The top line and the fourth line were both minus 2 in the game.
5-goal outburst – Minsk was buried by an avalanche of Copenhagen goals in the second period. After a 1-1 first stanza, Drew Shore got things going for the Tridents on the powerplay. Mark Giordano, Alexander Ovechkin and Shea Weber tallied before Shore scored again with 3:12 left in the second. Copenhagen went into a stall in the third period and coasted to the win. Game 2: Minsk will have to get smarter play out of Ryan McDonagh. The star defenseman was a little too active in his own end Wednesday. He blocked an amazing 6 shots, but got out of position enough to be a minus 3 with his partner Maxim Chudinov. Copenhagen has inserted Kaspars Daugavins into the lineup to replace veteran Ville Peltonen, who was dinged up in Game 1. Peltonen, while only a fourth-liner, is an unsung hero of sorts for the Tridents. In just 8 minutes per game this season, he amassed 17 goals and 33 points. In last year’s playoffs, he scored 10 points in 12 games.
