Pardubice & Plzeň advance to semis with dramatic game 7 wins

A pair of dramatic seventh games this week rounded out the final four of the Czech Extraliga playoffs. On Tuesday night, Pardubice beat Víktovice in overtime and on Wednesday, Plzeň scored late in the third period to beat Zlín.


Pardubice 5 - 4 Vítkovice (overtime)
(Pardubice wins series 4-3)

Daniel Rákos wins it in overtime. Photo: Jan Jedlička, hcpce.cz.

The first 50 minutes of the game in Pardubice offered a fair amount of excitement for the fans of the two teams; three times the visitors from Ostrava took the lead and twice, once each in the first and second, the home team tied it. As the third period reached its midpoint, Roman Szturc's unassisted goal at 6:56 of the second period was the difference in the 3-2 hockey game, and a tone of nervousness was coming over the Pardubice fans. They were getting lots of chances, but Vítkovice goaltender Roman Málek was showing no chinks in his armour and they were slowly running out of time.

Then Petr Pohl was sent of for slashing, and the crowd became energized. Pardubice saw its chance, and capitalized, when Radovan Somík finished off a pretty passing play with 8:30 on the clock. The game was tied, but the drama was just starting.

Just 2:23 later, veteran Jiří Burger hushed the crowd when he deflected a shot from the point into the net. It was his second goal of the game, and his team's fourth go-ahead goal. Then Jan Kolář went off for slashing with 5:36 left.

By the time the minor penalty was killed off, there was only three and a half minutes left. With two minutes to go, goaltender Martin Růžička was lifted for a sixth attacker and Pardubice continued to get chances. Finally, with just 31 seconds on the clock, Martin Bartak fired home the tying goal, his second goal and third point of the game.

According to Extraliga rules, a seventh game that goes to overtime is not limited to ten minutes. However, in this game, not even one minute was needed. The intermission did not stop the scoring barrage, as Daniel Rákos fired a long shot that went over the shoulder of Málek at the 55-second mark to end the game and the series, send the Víktovice players and fans into sudden shock, and Pardubice players and fans into utter euphoria.


Plzeň 4 - 2 Zlín
(Plzeň wins series 4-3)

Celebrating the series-winning goal.
Photo: Milan Podpera, hcplzen.cz.

The next day, in Plzeň, there was more drama for fans of Czech hockey. Again, it was a game that saw the visitors taking the lead and the home team tying it. Zlín led 1-0 after one period and led 2-1 late in the second when defenceman Jiří Hanzlík fired a shot from the point to even the score after 40 minutes.

Most of the third period was played in the end of Luboš Horčička, who was by far the busier of the two goaltenders on the night, but the Zlín keeper made several saves to keep his team's chances alive. In the game, Plzeň fired 52 shots at Horčička, while Adam Svoboda in the Plzeň goal faced 32, plus one shot that didn't count that almost cost his team the series.

With less than five minutes left, it looked like the visitors had pulled ahead. From behind the net, Zlín's Petr Leška received a pass in front and beat Svoboda with a quick shot. However, in the battle behind the net for the puck, the back of the net had come up and the referee quickly stopped play, blowing his whistle before the puck went into the net, which was back in position by the time it went in. The Zlín players on the ice pleaded for a video review, but it was not a reviewable play, as the whistle had gone before the puck entered the net.

Given a second win, Plzeň scored the series winner shortly afterward. With just over two minutes to play, Hanzlík fed a pass to Nick Johnson in the slot, and the American made no mistake, firing a perfect shot off the post and in, and causing the arena to erupt.

Radek Duda added an empty-net goal, his second tally of the game, to put it away.


As the highest seed remaining, Plzeň now plays Kometa Brno in the semifinals. Eighth-place Kometa pulled off a huge quarterfinal upset, eliminating the regular-season winning Sparta Praha in six games. The series begins on Monday. On Saturday, Pardubice hosts Bílí Tygři Liberec to start the other semifinal series.

From hokej.cz, here is the semifinal schedule. Home teams are listed first and all times are Central European. All games will be televised by ČT4 and streamed live and on-demand on its website. All games are also available live internationally at tv.hokej.cz.

Semifinal schedule
HC Plzeň 1929 - HC Kometa Brno
Mon, 26.03.2012	HC Plzeň 1929	HC Kometa Brno	19:10
Tue, 27.03.2012	HC Plzeň 1929	HC Kometa Brno	17:40
Fri, 30.03.2012	HC Kometa Brno	HC Plzeň 1929	18:10
Sat, 31.03.2012	HC Kometa Brno	HC Plzeň 1929	18:10
*Mon, 02.04.2012	HC Plzeň 1929	HC Kometa Brno	18:10
*Wed, 04.04.2012	HC Kometa Brno	HC Plzeň 1929	17:40
*Fri, 06.04.2012	HC Plzeň 1929	HC Kometa Brno	18:10
HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice - Bílí Tygři Liberec
Sat, 24.03.2012	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	Bílí Tygři Liberec	18:10
Sun, 25.03.2012	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	Bílí Tygři Liberec	18:10
Wed, 28.03.2012	Bílí Tygři Liberec	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	17:40
Thu, 29.03.2012	Bílí Tygři Liberec	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	18:10
*Sun, 01.04.2012	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	Bílí Tygři Liberec	17:10
*Tue, 03.04.2012	Bílí Tygři Liberec	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	17:40
*Thu, 05.04.2012	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	Bílí Tygři Liberec	18:10

* Game to be played if necessary.

Vítkovice stays alive with shootout win

Down three games to none in the Extraliga final, Vítkovice had the nearly impossible task of needing four straight victories to win the title. Their uphill climb got ever-so-slightly more probable with a 5-4 shootout victory on Saturday.

Ondřej Šedivý opens the shootout with a goal, as nervous Vítkovice
fans watch in anticipation. Photo: Petr Kotala, hc-vitkovice.cz.

In what can best be described as a see-saw battle, which saw three lead changes, Třinec led 1-0 and 2-1 before Vítkovice tied it late in the first period. They then scored the only goal of the second, when Peter Húževka converted on a power play after Třinec had been called for having too many players on the ice.

Vítkovice managed to protect their slim margin for half of the third period, but Třinec clearly wanted this to be the final game. First Martin Lojek tied the game with a blast from the point on the power play to tie the score. Then, only a minute and a half later, Lukáš Krajiček made a great play behind the Vítkovice goal, making a one-handed pass out in front while he was being pinned against the boards. In an example of a terrible defensive breakdown, Ladislav Kohn was able to skate untouched to the front of the net and fire Krajiček's pass top shelf over a stranded Roman Málek, giving Třinec a 4-3 lead with 7:53 to play.

Třinec now seemed to be brimming with confidence and Vítkovice seemed to be reeling. Television coverage saw the league's large-yet-generic-looking championship trophy being readied. The contingent of Třinec fans in the building were jumping, literally, while the majority of the home fans were quiet, and not many people would likely have bet on a Vítkovice victory at that point.

However, they were given a breath of life when Martin Richter was sent off for holding with 2:57 left, and the team called a timeout and pulled the goaltender, giving them a six-on-four advantage. Třinec managed to kill off the power-play by effectively icing the puck. In the last minute, Jan Peterek had a golden chance to put the game and the series away, but his shot from the neutral zone missed the empty net by cetimetres. Vítkovice recovered and, two passes later, Jan Kaňa was flying down the right wing and fired a shot at Peter Hamerlík. He stopped the shot, but couldn't control the rebound, and Lukáš Klimek pounced on the loose puck and fired it over a fallen Hamerlík to tie the score with 30 seconds remaining.

In overtime, Třinec still clearly wanted to finish off the series and had the best scoring opportunities, but Málek made a couple of point-blank season-saving stops. After a scoreless period, the game went to a shootout. Ondřej Šedivý and Viktor Ujčik scored on Vítkovice's first two attempts, while Málek denied both shooters he faced, sealing the victory for the home side.

"I'm not often in shootouts," said the 21-year-old Šedivý, a little-used winger who scored 3 goals in 30 games this season. "But recently, I was scoring in practices and the coach said to me that if there's a shootout, I'll go. So I went, I tried what I wanted and luckily it worked."

After two days off, the series will resume on Tuesday in Třinec. Oceláři will then have a chance to win its first championship on home ice.

Vítkovice goes home in 0-2 hole, disappointed but confident

After a sloppy performance in game 1, Vítkovice Steel was looking to get back to playing their type of hockey in game 2. For 58 minutes, they played exactly the type of game that they wanted.

Třinec's Václav Varaďa breaks the 0-0 tie with 1:01 to play.
Photo: Marian Ježowicz, hcocelari.cz.

For 58 minutes, they kept all of Třinec's big guns in check, and did so by playing typically strong-yet-disciplined Vítkovice hockey. Martin Růžička, an offensive stalwart who has averaged 2 points per game over this year's playoff run, was handcuffed and barely noticed. Even when they did take a penalty, they were strong on the kill, rendering the normally lethal Třinec power-play largely ineffective.

If Vítkovice had managed to score a goal in those 58 minutes, they might have got the result they wanted. But Třinec's defence was equally stingy, as they seemed content to play this style and bide their time until they got their chance. With overtime looming, they got it.

When Pavel Trka was sent off for hooking with 1:45 to play, the Třinec power-play went to work. And work is a good description of how they scored, as it was more the result of brawn than skill.

Just over a minute before the end of regulation time, Vítkovice goaltender Roman Málek tried to cover a loose puck in a mad scramble in front of the goal. A mass of bodies and the puck ended up in the net, as Václav Varaďa managed to force it over the line. "I knocked the puck, stopped it, I kept it in front of me, but that's about all I know," said Málek, trying to describe what happened. "The player who scored the goal fell on me and about half of my body was already over the goal line."

An empty-net goal by Martin Adamský made the final score 2-0. After being kept in check most of the game, Růžička managed to fill his 2-point quota by assisting on both goals. That extends his playoff record to 30 points in 15 games.  

In the Třinec goal, Peter Hamerlík stopped all 25 shots he faced. He added to his league-leading 6 shutouts during the regular season by recording his second of the playoffs. Málek stopped the first 24 he faced.

"We played a great game, it hurts a lot," the defeated goaltender continued after the game. "For sixty minutes we worked like horses and didn't get anything. We have to get it done at home. The third game especially will be tremendously important."

For all the disappointment, the veteran players on the team still aren't panicking. "I think we played a lot better than the first game. Although we spent some time on the penalty kill, which cost us a lot of energy, the performance was definitely not bad," commented veteran defenceman Marek Malík. "We just have try to win the two games at home, like Třinec did."

Defending champs Pardubice on the brink

After winning eight consecutive playoff games at home, Eaton Pardubice dropped back-to-back games against Vítkovice Steel on Wednesday and Thursday, and now find themselves in a very difficult situation.

After earning a split on the road to start the series, Pardubice looked to be in a good position heading to the friendly confines of (their) ČEZ Arena. However, they were stymied by Vítkovice goaltender Roman Málek in game 3, who stopped all 34 shots he faced, and lost 3-0, creating a nearly-must-win situation in game 4. They turned in a solid performance and, on the strength of second-period goals by Tomáš Zohorna and Jan Starý, were three minutes away from evening the series. However, Petr Vrána tied the score with 2:47 remaining in regulation time and then struck again in overtime to capture the game for Vítkovice, giving them a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Pardubice will have to get more traffic in front of Vítkovice goalie
Roman Málek of they hope to prolong their title defence. Photo:
Jan Jedlička, hcpce.cz.

The defending champions now find themselves in the unenviable position of having to win three games in a row, two of which would be on the road. Their biggest challenge seems to be a way to solve Málek in the Vítkovice goal, who has been nearly unbeatable.

"More traffic in front of the net, shooting more and going hard at Málek for loose pucks," was Starý's suggestion for what they have to do better. "Continue working hard, but especially around the net, not letting up there."

The series resumes on Sunday at Ostrava's ČEZ Arena, where Vítkovice will try to advance to the finals.

On Friday and Saturday, the other semifinal series resumes in Prague, with Slavia hosting Oceláři Třinec in games 3 and 4. The series is tied 1-1.

Friday is a busy day for die-hard Slavia hockey fans. The U20 team can advance to the Junior Extraliga finals with a win over Orli Znojmo at Eden. That game begins at 15:30. Fans then will quckly have to travel from Kubánské náměstí to Českomoravská to catch the opening faceoff at O2 Arena at 18:10.