KHL - Playoffs Round 1 - Jokerit v Sochi 4-1

Game 1 - March 3 - Jokerit v HC Sochi 2-3 2OT
March 3 is generally regarded as the 'birthday' of hockey, in memory of the game played in Montreal in 1875 that is accepted as first ever recognizable game of modern hockey. So it's an auspicious date for the 10th season of KHL playoffs to get underway - and the opening encounters provided plenty of action! The first playoff encounter between Jokerit and Sochi needed overtime to separate the two teams after a 2-2 tie in regulation. Given that these teams had served up two tight, one-goal games in the regular season, it was little surprise to see this opening post-season battle go the distance; like the regular season match-ups, Sochi came out on top thanks to a goal from Jonathon Blum in second overtime. Blum, part of the USA roster at the Olympics, is a relatively recent arrival in Sochi after beginning the season at Admiral. But the San Diego native picked the perfect moment to score his first goal for his new club. It wasn’t, perhaps, his finest finish – crashing the net as Artyom Tomilin looked to exploit a three-on-two rush, Blum got the final contact as the puck dribbled past Ryan Zapolski – but it was enough to secure a winning start in this opening round playoff series. Sochi began the game with all the confidence you might expect from a team that had twice defeated Jokerit already this season. Inside four minutes, the visitor had the lead as Eric O’Dell opened the scoring with a goal that combined brilliance and blunders. Pavel Padakin supplied the brilliance, battling behind the net then supplying a no-look pass for O’Dell out in front. The Canadian produced a nice dangle to get into a shooting position, but stumbled at the crucial moment, fanning on his shot but still seeing it sneak under Zapolski. The Jokerit goalie would surely want that one back after fluffing a seemingly routine pad save.
The home team’s problems got worse soon after when Steve Moses was ejected for the game for slashing at Dmitry Lugin. However, a solid PK prevented Sochi from extending its lead and gave some spirit to the Jokerit ranks. Once the penalty was served, the home team turned the game around with two power play goals of its own. First, Peter Regin fed the puck wide for Olli Palola, whose shot from a tight angle squeezed through Konstantin Barulin. Then Matt Gilroy fired the puck to the net and Jesse Joensuu got the vital touch to put the Finns in front. Sochi tied the game midway through the second period when Sean Collins was in the right place to put away Sergei Shmelyov’s diagonal feed and there was no further scoring until overtime. Niklas Jensen came close to winning it for the host with a shot against the post, Yegor Morozov might have snatched it for Sochi when his shot flashed just over the piping. Into the extras, and Jokerit dominated the first period. The Finns outshot Sochi 16-4, helped by three power plays. However, aside from one great opportunity for Jensen, brilliantly saved by Konstantin Barulin, there were few clear-cut chances to win the game until Sochi snatched it early in the second period of overtime. 

Game 2 - March 4 - Jokerit v HC Sochi 7-2

Yesterday, there was little between these teams as Sochi claimed a win in double overtime. Today, Jokerit took the shackles off its offense, and powered to an emphatic victory to square the series.
A purple patch of four goals in 10 minutes at the start of the second period was the key to this game. Jokerit had shaded the opening stanza 2-1, just as it had 24 hours earlier, before letting rip in the middle frame. John Norman started the fireworks, sliding home a Matt Gilroy pass in the 22^nd minute. Then came Gilroy himself, on the PP, winding up a blast from the centre point to beat Konstantin Barulin and end the goalie’s evening. With Dmitry Shikin in the firing line, Pekka Jormakka welcomed him to the game with a fifth Jokerit goal before Niklas Jensen added another entry to his highlight reel when he took Sami Lepisto’s pass in his own zone and charged through a beleaguered Sochi defense to make it six.
All this, and no mention of Eeli Tolvanen? Fear not. The teenage prodigy got the 2-1 goal back in the first period, wiring a one-timer off a Lepisto feed to convert another power play. Then, with 10 minutes left, he produced a similar shot from a similar position – off another Lepisto pass – to wrap up a convincing Jokerit win. There was little consolation for Sochi following this loss, but Adam Polasek and Dmitry Lugin did find the net for the visitor. The action in this series now heads south, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, with every tied up at 1-1.
Game 3 - March 6 - HC Sochi v Jokerit 2-7
In 2015, when Jokerit played its first KHL season, it progressed through the opening round of the playoffs in five games, despite an overtime loss to Dinamo Minsk in game one in Helsinki. Steve Moses was in his pomp, and the Finnish team revelled in its first taste of post season action in our league. Fast forward: in 2018, Jokerit lost its first game in overtime. Since then, it has battled back against HC Sochi to lead the series 2-1 – and Moses is back on the scoresheet. The American forward got the fourth goal in this game, lifting Jokerit into a two-goal lead as the midway point of the third period approached. It was a margin too great for Sochi to recover and put the Finns ahead in the series for the first time. And he was back on target to make it 6-2 as the Finns ran riot for the second game running.
The series so far had produced two contrasting games. In the first, the teams were nip and tuck before Sochi snatched a 4-3 verdict in double overtime. The next day, Jokerit was rampant in response, powering to a 7-2 victory. Today’s game combined the two – an even battle until late in the second, then a third-period blitz brought a repeat of that 7-2 margin.
Sochi got the start it needed, taking the lead in the fourth minute. The host harried the Jokerit defense into an error, Nikita Shchitov fed Eric O’Dell on the slot, and the forward made no mistake from close range to open the scoring.
It felt like this game would be more like the first when Jesse Joensuu tied it up for Jokerit in the 10th minute, winning his duel with Konstantin Barulin after Peteri Wirtanen’s defense-splitting pass. The second period also saw the teams trading goals: Olli Palola put Jokerit up, Sean Collins swatted home a looping rebound from Adam Polasek's shot to tie the game. But then came Marko Anttila, breaking that 2-2 scoreline with a powerful shot that bounced off Barulin’s glove on the way to the net. Jokerit was ahead late in the middle frame, and there was no way back for Sochi.
Moses added a fourth in the 48th minute, then a spate of power play goals sealed Sochi’s fate. Palola got his second, Moses did likewise, and Peter Regin wrapped up another emphatic win with 69 seconds left to play. Sochi needs to reverse the momentum of this series fast if it is to progress beyond the first round of the playoffs for the first time.
Game 4 - March 7 - HC Sochi v Jokerit 2-3 OT
Jokerit is just one game away from reaching the Western Conference semi-finals for only the second time in its KHL career after overcoming a battling Sochi team. The Finns thought they had this game won in regulation, but with five seconds left Sochi snatched a dramatic equalizer, tying the scores at 2-2. Ironically, it was Finnish defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka who frustrated his compatriots. He stepped up from the point to meet Sean Collins pass and thumped it through traffic to beat Ryan Zapolski and force the game into overtime. Once into the extras, though, Pekka Jormakka gave Jokerit the win and put the team 3-1 up in the series. After losing the opening game in Helsinki, Jokerit roared back with a pair of 7-2 victories and this time it held its nerve in OT to take a big step towards winning the series. Jormakka’s goal, in the 72^nd minute, came after he picked up a loose puck in centre ice and headed for the net. He ran into trouble between two D-men, but a helping hand from Mika Niemi put Jormakka into a shooting position and Konstantin Barulin was unable to save his team. That winner meant Jokerit could finally celebrate a victory it thought it had claimed after taking the lead for a second time in the last five minutes. Matt Gilroy’s point shot flashed through the sticks of Tolvanen and Brian O’Neill – the latter was credited with the touch that beat Barulin.
The late scoring flurry echoed the start of the game, when the teams traded goals inside the first 10 minutes. Jokerit got an early lead when it converted the first power play of the game. Eeli Tolvanen did the damage, given time and space to unleash his devastating wrist shot from the top of the circle and leave Konstantin Barulin with no chance. But the lead lasted less than two minutes before Sean Collins tied the game. The Canadian took up a position wide right on the goal line after Sochi won an attacking face-off and managed to squeeze in a shot from an incredibly tight angle to beat Zapolski and make it 1-1. That early exchange set the tone for a close encounter, with both teams creating chances but neither able to settle the outcome in regulation.







Game 5 - March 3 - Jokerit v HC Sochi 2-1 OT

Jokerit was three minutes away from facing a return trip to Sochi to settle this series – but two goals from Eeli Tolvanen sends the Finns on to a Conference semi-final match-up against CSKA. Prior to the game, the talk in Helsinki was about the importance of wrapping up the series tonight and avoiding another flight to the Black Sea, but the visitor was equally determined to extend the contest to a sixth game and led on Dmitry Lugin’s short-handed goal.
But, with time running out, Tolvanen tied the scores before winning it for the host late in the first period of overtime. It was an individual effort, circling all the way around the Sochi zone before stuffing the puck home on the wraparound with Konstantin Barulin unable to get his way into position. However, Barulin’s problems prompted a review of the play: Brian O’Neill was on his hands and knees on the paintwork, obstructing the goalie’s movements. The key question was whether he deliberately sought to encroach on the crease, or whether he had no choice after stumbling as he wrestled with defenseman Mikhail Mamkin. It took more than five minutes of deliberation before the officials awarded the goal and sent Jokerit to the next round.
That wait was not the only anxious spell for the home team in a game that Sochi could easily have won. Sochi went ahead in the 27^th minute with Sochi trying to kill a penalty on Artyom Maltsev. Jokerit got the puck to the visitor’s net but failed to press home the advantage; Sochi launched a break away with Dmitry Lugin and Eric O’Dell streaking up the ice in a 2-on-1 situation against Matt Gilroy. Lugin shaped as if to pass to O’Dell but went ahead to shoot himself, beating Ryan Zapolski on the stick side with a wrister from the left-hand circle. Either side of that goal, Sochi went close. A power play early in the second period saw Mamkin fire a vicious shot into the angle of post and bar; a video review confirmed that the puck did not cross the line. Then Lugin got another shooting chance at the start of the third and dinged the puck off the crossbar. Jokerit, by contrast, was on the back foot for long periods, struggling to get good looks at Barulin’s net as the visitor looked set to save the series.
All that was forgotten late in the game, though. Jokerit grabbed a dramatic tying goal with three minutes to play when Eeli Tolvanen scored his fourth of the playoffs. The teenager was lurking on the slot, waiting for his chance, and gobbled it up when Barulin allowed a big rebound from Gilroy’s point shot. That was a reward for the way the home team raised the tempo in the latter half of the final period, with Tommi Kivisto and Petteri Wirtanen both testing the goalie from distance.
In overtime, Sochi came out of the blocks quicker but quickly faded. Niclas Jensen had Barulin in trouble with a testing backhand, Pekka Jormakka almost followed his overtime winner in Sochi with a repeat here when he hit the bar, and by the time Tolvanen hit the target it felt that the goal was coming for Jokerit. The result wraps up the first round of playoff action in the Western Conference, with Jokerit joining SKA, CSKA and Lokomotiv in the conference semi-finals. The match-ups see SKA face Loko, with the Finns heading to Moscow for their next engagement against CSKA.