Sparta and Zlín win pivotal quarterfinal games

Written for Eurohockey.com:

In a best-of-seven series, the third game is always key, whether it's 1-1 or 2-0 going in. On the road, Sparta Praha won to take a 2-1 lead in Brno, while Zlín got its first win of the series on home ice against Plzeň.

Kometa Brno 2 - 5 Sparta Prague
(Sparta leads best-of-seven series 2-1)

Alex Foster (23) tied the game 1-1 early in the second period.
Photo: Michal Eger, hc-kometa.cz.

After maybe being fortunate to escape the first two games at home with a split, Sparta Praha knew it wasn't out of the woods yet, as they had to play two games in probably the loudest arena in the Extraliga--Kajot Arena in Brno. After falling behind in the first, they took control of the game in the second period and ultimately cruised to victory, taking a 2-1 lead in the series.

In fact, Sparta was lucky to escape the first period down only a goal. The always noisy Brno crowd was even more pumped up than usual for a playoff encounter against one of the more hated opponents: the perennial powerhouses from the nation's capital. After Sunday's game, forward Alex Foster said that the key for a road team in Brno was taking the crowd out of it early, but at that Sparta failed miserably on Wednesday. Tomáš Pöpperle, one of the biggest keys to Sparta's first-place finish this year, was the main reason they were still in the game after 20 minutes.

In the 13th minute, Tomáš Svoboda finally scored the game's first goal when Jiří Vašiček's shot from the point went in off his skate. This pumped up the home crowd and the pressure continued. In the last two minutes of play, the puck went in again, but the net had been dislodged moments before, and a penalty shot was awarded. Martin Erat took the shot and tried to go through Pöpperle's legs, but was denied.

If the first period was dominated by Kometa, Sparta was perhaps even more dominant in the second period. They scored three goals to take control of the game, They got goals from Foster, Petr Ton, and then late in the period Michal Sersen on the power play to give the visitors a 3-1 lead heading to the final period.

When Mario Bližňák made it 4-1 early in the third, it seemed pretty academic afterward. Erat closed the score to 4-2, but Petr Tenkrát put it away late on a delayed penalty.


PSG Zlín 1 - 0 Plzeň 1929
(Plzeň leads best-of-seven series 2-1)

Despite all the traffic, Luboš Horčička stopped everything thrown
at him on Wednesday night. Photo: Jiří Zaňát, hcplzen.cz.

After coming up empty on the road, Zlín finally got on the win column on home ice. Like the game in Brno, it was first period goaltending that the victors should be thankful for. Thanks to three power plays, the visitors from Plzeň had the lion's share of chances in the opening frame, but Luboš Horčička kept them off the board.

Early in the second period, Antonín Honejsek fed a perfect pass to Ondřej Veselý, who re-directed the puck past Adam Svoboda for the game's first, and ultimately only, goal. It would be the only blemish on an otherwise masterful night for Svoboda, who stopped 31 of 32 shots and spent the rest of the night keeping his team within a goal.

However, Plzeň's offence was stifled after that, and could never again mount the sustained pressure that they had in the first period. They did have a couple of good chances in the third period, particularly on a goalmouth scramble with eight minutes left when Horčička stopped the puck on the goal line, but kept it out. But the late push for an equalizer never really came, and the game ended 1-0.


Now, both Brno and Zlín trail 2-1 in games with critical fourth games at home. If either is to lose, they will face the prospect of having to win three straight games, two of which will be in enemy territory.

Sparta avoids disaster at home

Written for Eurohockey.com:

On Saturday night, Tipsport Arena in Prague and ČEZ Arena in Plzeň hosted the second games of Czech Extraliga quarterfinal series, with the home teams winning. For Sparta Praha, the win was much more crucial, and by much narrower a margin.

Sparta Praha 3 - 2 Kometa Brno (shootout)
(Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)

Tomáš Pöpperle stops Jakub Svoboda to end the game.
Photo: Jan Beneš, hcparta.cz.

After dropping the first game of the series, Sparta could ill afford to lose a second straight at home. They won to even the series, but barely, as it took a shootout to get the desired result.

Kometa almost pulled it off even though they were dealt a blow in the game's opening minute, when leading scorer Miroslav Holec got tangled awkwardly with Sparta's David Kočí and fell into the boards. Holec suffered an apparent shoulder injury and didn't return.

Kočí was assessed a minor penatly for holding on the play, and Sparta down two men early after Yorick Treille was sent off for tripping 1:09 later. On the two-man advantage, Jozef Kovačík opened the scoring on a one-time bullet from the point.

The score was 1-1 after one period, thanks to Dominik Pacovský's rebound goal, and 2-2 after two periods; Mario Bližňák finished off a nice three-way passing play with Petr Tenkrát and Petr Ton for Sparta and Tomáš Svoboda replied for Kometa after taking a drop pass from Jakub Svoboda (no relation).

The third period and overtime were both scoreless. Sparta had the better chances, but Jiří Trvaj made great saves off of Pacovský and later Alex Foster, whom he robbed with the glove.

"It was Troy (Milam) that gave me a nice pass from behind the net," Foster said about his chance. "It came out front right onto my stick. I tried to go top shelf with it and maybe I should have gone the other way with it, to the blocker side, but anyway the goalie made a really good save."

A nervous crowd in Prague became even moreso in the extra period when the home team had to kill off two penalties, while Brno had to kill off one. Goaltender Tomáš Pöpperle saved Sparta's bacon when he made an unbelievable pad save off of Róbert Petrovický from in close while facing the wrong way; Sparta's best chance was a three-on-one, but the puck was bouncing and they didn't get a good shot.

In the shootout, Ton's shot in the second round went off the post and in for the only goal, while Pöpperle denied all three shooters he faced. When he stopped Jakub Svoboda to end the game, the cheer that rang out from Tipsport Arena was more of a collective exhail. Disaster had been avoided.

It doesn't get any easier for Sparta, though, as they now must play their next two games at noisy Kajot Arena in Brno.

"(Kometa) are difficult to play at home because they get a big boost from their fans," Foster said of the upcoming games. "Both games we played there this year, it was pretty loud and it's probably going to be even louder in the playoffs, so we've got to take the crowd out of it. Hopefully score an early goal."

Plzeň 5 - 1 Zlín
(Plzeň leads best-of-seven series 2-0)

Martin Straka led Plzeň's offence with 3 points in game 2.
Photo: Milan Podpera, hcplzen.cz.

Though Plzeň 1929 has had fewer problems with its second-round opponent, their 5-1 victory on Saturday night was not as easy as the score indicates. The visitors from Zlín outshot the home side by a 33-28 margin, and it was the goaltending of Adam Svoboda that provided the difference.

Zlín goaltender Jakub Sedláček conceded a weak-angle shot from Ondřej Havlíček to open the scoring in the eighth minute just after his team had killed off a penalty. He made 23 saves in the game.

At the other end, Svoboda was beaten only once in the game, a puck that was actually put into the net by the skate of defenceman Jiří Marušák that was credited to Antonín Honejsek, which cut the lead to 2-1. It remained a one-goal game for half of the third period before the Indians put it away with three goals late in the third.

"I'm not going to worry about it," Svoboda said after the game to hokej.cz's Petr Naar about the miscue that led to the Zlín goal. "Zlín had plenty of other chances and I stopped the others. That's just what happens in hockey sometimes."

Captain, general manager, and part owner Martin Straka had three assists for Plzeň in the game, and Václav Pletka scored two goals: the game-winner on a two-man advantage midway through the second period and the game's final goal with only nine seconds on the clock. Nick Johnson and Jan Kovář also had two-point nights.

Like the Sparta-Kometa series, this series now shifts venues and resumes on Wednesday and Thursday. Zlín will be looking to take both games on home ice if they want to seriously entertain thoughts of winning the series. But though Plzeň is up 2-0, they know they cannot afford to rest.

"We have the lead in the series and that's what we wanted. That was our goal for the home games and we did it, so we have some satisfaction," said Svoboda. "But we have to go to Zlin as if it were still 0-0. We have to play like we did today. The home fans will drive their team, so for us it is not simple at all."