In the mood for a couple of Game 7s on Monday?

St. Petersburg has fended off Dublin in two straight do-or-die games, and Henrik Lundqvist shut out Gothenburg Saturday in the Coin Flip Series.

The Red Stars stormed out of the gate, showing their home fans they meant business. Brad Richards took a nifty pass from Blake Wheeler to score his third of the playoffs about 3:20 into the game and four other St. Petersburg players scored in the next 11 minutes, giving the home team what seemed like an insurmountable lead going into the first intermission. But Dublin made a valiant effort to get back into the game in the second, outshooting Petrograd 16-10 and scoring three goals of their own. But the hill was too high to climb. St. Petersburg clogged the middle of the ice and played a dump-and-chase game to perfection in the third. Wheeler scored his second of the game with just under a minute left and his teammates’ wives started packing for another trip to Ireland. Wheeler and linemate Valterri Filppula led all scorers with 3 points, while Olli Jokinen and Brenden Dillon, both of St. Petersburg, led in the hits department with 5 each.  Dublin’s Nick Schultz had 4 hits and 4 blocked shots, while teammate Olexander Pobyedonostsev logged an incredible 32 minutes of ice time, managing to register 3 hits and 2 blocked shots. Game 7: Dublin has the home ice advantage, but St. Petersburg has the healthy player advantage. A key cog in the Irish machine, James Wisniewski, will not be able to play. And goalie Tim Thomas and defenseman Zbynek Michalek probably will play with minor aches and pains.  The odds of St. Petersburg staving off elimination three straight games is high, but they have momentum and they seem to have buttoned down the defense in the last two games, allowing Dublin’s high-octane offense just 2 and 3 goals.

Try as they might to brush aside Helsinki in an elimination game, the Gothenburg Devils just couldn’t do it. It was apparent early that Lundqvist wasn’t going to give in easily, and he never did, turning away all 33 shots that Gothenburg threw at him. When Jared Cowen scored a goal, his first of the playoffs about 14 minutes into the first period, the noisy Devils fans didn’t seem too concerned. The kept the volume up and their Devils kept charging into the Jokerit zone, getting shots on Lundqvist. Little did they know, Cowen’s seeing-eye goal would be enough to win the game and set up a Game 7 in Finland. When Jarome Iginla and Alexandre Burrows put in powerplay goals early in the third period, the place went virtually silent. Helsinki did a great job of shutting down the Devils’ top players, like Zach Parise, who was limited to 1 shot on goal. Gothenburg’s leading shooter was – surprisingly – Cal Clutterbuck with 5. Game 7: As predicted, the absence of injured Eric Staal really hurt the Devils. Barring a wonder drug, he won’t suit up on Monday either. Helsinki lost a player too, but Daniel Fernholm isn’t nearly as great a loss as Staal. Chris Phillips will play his third playoff game to replace Fernholm. Jordan Eberle has played poorly through six games of the playoffs, managing just 1 assist in top line minutes. He is also a minus 8. A turnaround by him is what the Devils need most. It would seem like coach Barry Trotz’ Jokerit have a slight advantage in this contest, but this series has proven that nothing is a given. It will be in doubt until the final seconds and it will be sad for all hockey fans when it’s over.