Take that, you dastards!

Salavat Yulaev showed Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg what they thought of the lower-seeded team beating them Sunday. Salavat rolled 8-1 Monday. Patrick Thoresson had a goal and 2 assists, Alexander Radulov had a goal and three assists, and Salavat got 5 goals in a 10:55 stretch in the 2nd. It wasn't just the talent of the winners; the first Avto goalie got yanked after giving up 4 goals on 17 shots- and his successor gave up a much more respectable 4 goals on 18 shots! The only score for Avto was a penalty shot.

In the meantime, Traktor won it's first playoff game in three playoff appearances yesterday (they were 0 for 8) and paid for it today, as Metallurg finished them off 3-2. The Magnitogorsk sextet tied the game on a 2-man power play with 5 minutes to play, and Denis Platanov scored his second of the game 16:18 into OT to clinch the win.

Salavat will go on to face Neftekhimik while Metallurg plays defending champ Ak Bars. Second round opens Friday with Lokomotiv/Spartak and MVD/Riga. Then everyone plays Saturday.