Game 1 - Sunday, February 21
(2) Jokerit Helsinki 4 (7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 6
Torpedo leads the series 1-0
Torpedo sprang the first surprise of this season’s playoffs, downing Jokerit in a high-scoring opening encounter. The Finns were expected to have the edge in this clash but Nikolai Zherdev turned the game upside down with two goals in two minutes in the first period. Zherdev, a player with all the tricks, has yet to really live up to his potential at club or international level, but here he showed why so many coaches believe they can unlock his star quality. First he collected a pass from Vladimir Galuzin, swivelled into a shooting position and lifted a wrister beyond Henrik Karlsson. Then, assisted once again by Galuzin, Zherdev went through one-on-one and beat the goalie from close range. Jokerit hit back in the second period, with two goals from Jesse Joensuu and a third from Niklas Hagman sandwiching Kaspars Daugavins’ marker as the teams reached the second intermission locked a 3-3. But then Torpedo found another step up: Alexander Frolov and Alexei Sopin made it 5-3 midway through the final stanza and even though Peter Regin pulled one back there was no escape for the Finns. Vyacheslav Kulyomin completed the scoring with an empty net goal to give Torpedo the early initiative in this series.
Game 2 - Tuesday, February 23
(2) Jokerit Helsinki 4 (7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 Series tied at 1-1
Penalty trouble cost Torpedo dear as Jokerit tied the series before the action moves to Nizhny Novgorod. The visitor held a 2-1 lead going into the third period, but when Kaspars Daugavins was handed a 5+20 in the 46th minute the balance of play shifted decisively in the Finns’ favor. Initially, though, it was Torpedo who had the better of things. A bright start got its reward when Sergei Kostitsyn opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Jokerit responded almost immediately; Niko Kapanen winning the battle on the slot and forcing home the rebound from Topi Jaakola’s slap shot. Nikolai Zherdev added to his two goals in the first game when he made it 2-1 early in the second period. This time he started the move deep in his own zone and then advanced to collect Linus Videll’s between the hatchings and fire home. However he was off the ice when Jokerit turned the game upside down in the third period, helped by a big penalty on Kaspars Daugavins. The Latvian was given a 5+20 for boarding, and Zherdev was sent to serve the time as Jokerit enjoyed a 5-on-3 advantage. That paved the way for Philip Larsen to tie the scores with a shot from the face-off spot and then, 50 seconds later, Ville Lajunen gave the Finns the lead for the first time in the game with a powerful shot from the top of the circle that took a deflection off a Torpedo defenseman to beat Ilya Proskuryakov. There was still some drama to come in the final seconds as Brandon Kozun found the empty net for Jokerit with just over one minute to play, only for Alexei Potapov to snatch a goal for Torpedo on 59:50. That sparked a brawl that saw four players, including the goalscorer, sinbinned before the Finns held out for the remaining seconds and the series is tied at 1-1.
Game 3 - Thursday, February 25
(7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 1 (2) Jokerit Helsinki 0
Torpedo leads the series 2-1
Torpedo, the outsider at the start of this series, holds the initiative after three games thanks to a solitary goal in the first period and a fine display from goalie Ilya Proskuryakov. The key moment came early: there were less than nine minutes played when Torpedo won a power play, and it took a matter of seconds to convert the opportunity into a goal. Following the face off the puck dropped to Dmitry Syomin, Maxim Osipov fired in a shot from the blue line and Artyom Alyayev was on hand at the near post to deflect it past Henrik Karlsson.
Much of the game was a niggly, scrappy affair, typified by a brawl deep in the first period involving Jokerit’s Peter Regin and Jesse Joensuu and Torpedo’s Alexei Potapov. However, in between the scuffles, Jokerit had slightly more of the play and fired in 31 shots on Proskuryakov’s goal. However, the Finns could find no way through the home defenses and ended up on the wrong end of a narrow loss.
Game 4 - Friday, February 27
(7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 (1OT) (2) Jokerit Helsinki 2
Torpedo leads the series 3-1
Kaspars Daugavins completed an impressive Torpedo comeback as he snatched the overtime winner in a game dominated by ill-discipline. The Latvian forward was released into the Jokerit zone by Vladimir Galuzin’s defense-splitting pass and his shot was only partially blocked by Henrik Karlsson and the puck looped over the goalie’s shoulder and dropped just over the line despite his desperate attempts to swat it to safety. Four players were expelled from the game, three of them for the home team, and all five goals were scored on the power play. The teams shared 142 PIMs, with Jesse Joensuu getting a 2+10 misconduct tariff in addition to the ejections. Initially it seemed that the Finns would benefit from Torpedo’s ill-discipline, opening up a 2-0 lead in the aftermath of the ejections of Carter Ashton and Alexei Pepelyayev. Philip Larsen scored them both, and had another ruled off by the video official for kicking the puck. But Jokerit also got embroiled in penalty trouble. A 5-on-3 advantage for Torpedo saw Evgeny Mozer reduce the arrears before Topi Jaakola became the third man to be sent from the ice in the last minute of the second period. Dmitry Semin converted that power play, although he may not have known too much about how the puck ended up in the net as he and a crowd of players fell upon Henrik Karlsson in the aftermath of Artyom Alyayev’s shot from the point. There was still time for Alexei Sopin to join the growing queue for the shower late in the third period but even with depleted resources Torpedo managed to take the win and earn a 3-1 advantage as the series heads back to Helsinki.
Game 5 - Sunday, February 29
(2) Jokerit Helsinki 3 (7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 2
Torpedo leads the series 3-2
Jokerit kept its playoff hopes alive with victory in Game 5 as this juddering series gets set for a dramatic conclusion. After four games studded with major penalties and dominated by bad feeling between the two teams, this one saw less time in the sin-bins. But there was still plenty of robust confrontation out on the ice as both teams continued to contest every last play. Peter Regin opened the scoring in this one with a power play goal. He found plenty of space on the right channel and drilled in a shot from the top of the face-off circle midway through the first period. The middle session saw the teams trade goals. Vladimir Galuzin tied it up for Torpedo but another power play gave Brandon Kozun the chance to unleash a slapshot that gave Ilya Proskuryakov no chance. Torpedo’s lack of man-power told: the Canadian forward had plenty of time to advance into space and none of the four Torpedo players on the ice were in a position to close down the shot in time to help their goalie. A third-period goal from Niklas Hagman proved to be the game-winner. Juhamatti Aaltonen burst down the right and slung the puck into the center where Hagman was all alone. A quick flash of the stick to deceive Proskuryakov and Jokerit led 3-1. Torpedo managed to get one back in the last minute when Alexei Potapov turned the puck home from close range, but ran out of time before it could equalize. The action returns to Nizhny Novgorod on Wednesday.Game 6 - Tuesday, March 02
(7) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 3 (2) Jokerit Helsinki 2 Torpedo wins the series 4-2
Torpedo pulled off a shock to complete the line-up for the Western Conference semi-finals after edging Jokerit by the odd goal in five. A 56th-minute goal from Vyacheslav Kulemin won the game and the series in dramatic fashion. Kulemin and Evgeny Mozer set off on a two-on-two breakaway. Kulemin came off the left channel and headed to the net, getting his shot off to beat Henrik Karlsson under pressure from close range. Earlier Torpedo opened up a 2-0 lead on goals from Maxim Osipov midway through the second period and Alexander Frolov on the power play in the 51st minute. But Jokerit, faced with playoff oblivion, struck back with two goals in two minutes. Jesper Jensen got the first, firing in a one-timer from the blue line off Peter Regin’s pass. Then a power play for the Finns gave Brandon Kozun the chance to tie the game. Jesse Joensuu held up play before attacking from the right channel and feeding the Canadian for a shot on goal. It seemed that overtime was on the way, but Kulemin’s decisive intervention ended the series in Torpedo’s favor. The Nizhny Novgorod team goes on to face CSKA Moscow, while SKA and Dynamo renew their long-standing playoff rivalry in the other match-up.
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