Artūrs Andžāns | Foto: Julia Suuriniemi / jsuufoto.fi
Latvian defenseman Artūrs Andžāns and Hemēnlinnas HPK advanced to the quarterfinals of the Finnish Liiga tonight, defeating Raumas Lukko 4:1 in the first round of the playoffs, winning the series 3-1.
Andžāns played 17:06 in the game, recording one shot on goal and a neutral plus/minus rating.
HPK finished the regular season in 12th place, although Lukko secured fifth, just one point shy of automatically qualifying for the quarterfinals. This series win marks an unexpected continuation for Andžāns’ team, while ending Lukko’s season.
Meanwhile, Oskars Batņa’s Lahti Pelicans likewise secured a quarterfinal berth yesterday, sweeping JYP with a 3-0 series victory. Gustavs Grigals, the goaltender for Lapēnrantas SaiPa, already had a quarterfinal spot guaranteed thanks to their regular season performance.
HPK will now face the top seed, Tampere Tappara, in the quarterfinals. Pelicans will battle Kouvolas KooKoo, and SaiPa’s opponent is yet to be determined.
Czechia
In the Czech Extraliga quarterfinals, Kristaps Zīle’s Liberec Bili Tygri earned their first win of the series, defeating Karlovy Vary Energie 3-0 on the road. Despite the win, Energie still leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Zīle logged 19:23 minutes of ice time (2:26 on the penalty kill), the second-highest total on Liberec, and registered one shot on goal, two blocked shots, and a positive plus/minus rating of +1.
Jānis Jaks played a team-high 24:23 minutes for Energie (including 2:29 on the power play), recording three shots and one blocked shot, while Roberts Mamčics played 15:46 and was credited with one hit. Both Latvian defensemen on Karlovy Vary finished with a -1 rating.
Game four of the series is scheduled for tomorrow. In another quarterfinal series featuring Kristiāns Rubīns and Mārtiņš Dzierkals’ Plzeň Škoda against Prague Sparta, Plzeň leads 3-1.
Germany
NHL draft prospect Alberts Šmits and his Munich Red Bull team fell 5-6 to Ingolstadt in the first game of their German DEL quarterfinal series, going down 0-1 in the best-of-four matchup.
Šmits finished with a -1 rating in 15:56 minutes of ice time (0:29 on the power play, 0:58 shorthanded), with no other statistics recorded.
Tomorrow, Brēmerhaven Fischtown Pinguins, featuring goaltender Krister Gudļevskis, will begin their quarterfinal series with an away game against Mannheim Adler.
Meanwhile, in the German DEL2 quarterfinals, Kaspars Daugaviņš did not play, but his Kassel Huskies defeated Weiswasser Lausitzer Fuchse 6-3, taking a 3-1 lead in the best-of-four series. Daugaviņš has only participated in one game of the series so far.
