Outsiders double their advantage in the East

Eastern Conference

Ak Bars Kazan (1) - Salavat Yulayev Ufa (5) 0-2

In an even first period Stefan Ruzicka brought the guests from Ufa in front at 16:54 when he used a rebound after a shot by Miroslav Blatak. The underdogs concentrated on their defense and looked for counter attacks. Despite huge pressure the home side Ak Bars found no way back into the match and instead Sergei Zinovyev made everything clear for the guests with an empty netter at 59:37. That Ufa stole the home advantage from Kazan was something barely any expert had anticipated. Game #3 in Ufa will be crucial for the outcome of this series.

Salavat Yulayev lead 2-0 in the series

Avangard Omsk (2) - Traktor Chelyabinsk (3) 0-3

Just as yesterday in game #1 Traktor took the very early lead against Avangard when Valery Nichushkin skated over the left wing before suddenly turning directly towards the net, deked out Rämö and put the puck into the right bottom corner! Despite a lot of power plays on both sides during the middle period the score didn't change. Only at 52:54 it was again Nichushkin who made it 2:0 Traktor after an Avangard defender lost the puck in his own zone. In the following 1-on-1 Nichushkin was stopped by Rämö but he scored with his own rebound. Just a minute later Petri Kontiola stole the puck from a defender and scored in the break away with a hard shot into the right corner past the Avangard goalie! With two away wins and 8-0 goals, Traktor are the clear favourites now in this series before their two home matches in games #3 and #4.   

Traktor lead 2-0 in the series

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