Express Drop First Game of Finals

[Bojovnik 487]

Is there anything better than Finals time? In the VHLE, the springboard to the VHL, the winner-take-all matchup sees regular season winners Oslo Storm take on the Cologne Express.

 

The Storm came into the Finals series having dispatched of Vasteras Iron Eagles with relative ease. On the other hand, the Express battled back from 3-2 down in their series with the Bratislava Watchmen to take the series in seven games.

 

On Sunday night, the puck dropped in Norway with the Express as the road side. Cologne went 1-3 on the road in Slovakia, so many thought that the Storm would pick up the opening game of the series, although few expected how dominant Oslo would be.

 

The Norwegian side outshot their German opponents by almost four-to-one, and despite goaltender Jesse Teno’s best efforts, the Storm ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.

 

“We need a response that’s for sure, as our effort today was unacceptable,” Express captain Yaroslav Bogatyrev said on Sunday night.

 

The Express started out slowly in their Semi-Finals series against the Bratislava Watchmen, but Bogatyrev said that Cologne could not afford to do this against Oslo.

 

“We know that Oslo have a powerful offence and a fantastic goalie. We started slow in Slovakia, but if we do the same, the series could easily be over in four games. We have to go back to the drawing board and see what we can do to counter Oslo’s strengths. We are confident that we will find a way,” he said.