Considering the nature of the rushed transfer and little time to prepare, Liam Kirk’s opening two games in the Czech Extraliga can be considered a success.

Despite early promise, HC Litvínov did not get their campaign off to the best start on Friday.

HC Dynamo Pardubice would record a 5-1 victory, which owed as much to an awful third period defensively by the visitors as good play by the hosts.

Kirk took a penalty in the first period, and the hosts led 1-0 through twenty minutes. The visitors did strike the crossbar and had some good looks in the first five minutes.

The GB forward had some promising moments in the middle frame as he began to find his feet in the game.

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Down 2-1 after two periods, there was still hope for Litvínov to take something from the opening game.

That was extinguished in the opening five minutes of the third period. Two defensive breakdowns led to a pair of goals against, and the game ended as a contest.

Playing centre on the second line with Jindrich Abdul and Ondřej Kaše, Kirk received a little over fifteen minutes of ice time and was 67% in the face-off circle (8/12).

He also led the team with five shots.

Litvínov played host to HC Škoda Plzeň on Sunday and delighted home fans with a 4-2 victory.

Though dropped to the third line, Kirk came very close to scoring on two occasions, either side of the home team taking a 1-0 lead.

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David Kaše netted a second goal, giving Litvínov a 2-1 lead through twenty minutes.

Chemistry sometimes isn’t instant, though Kirk was close to creating a goal in this sequence in the middle frame.

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A handful of seconds into a five-minute powerplay, the home team extended their lead with this goal.

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Although passing in the play leading to the goal, Kirk was not credited a secondary assist that he likely would have in the AHL.

The Maltby native almost created a fourth goal for the home team before the middle period ended.

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Plzeň pegged the lead back to a single goal heading into the third period to set up a tense final frame.

The home team hung tough in a very physical game and secured the win and three points with an empty net goal.

Kirk centered Lukáš Válek and Jindrich Abdul, once again recording four shots.

His ice time was almost exactly the same as game one.

The only difference was that half of that was power play time in a penalty-filled game. Kirk struggled in the face-off dot, winning just four and recording a 31% success rate.

A first point and/or goal would have been preferable, if for confidence if nothing else.

However, more importantly, Kirk found his feet in the opening weekend of games.

His teammates will begin to adapt to his style of play and read him better in the upcoming days of practice and games.

That will doubtless lead to points for the GB forward and success in the standings for a Litvínov team that lacked consistency and showed some defensive frailty through the first two games.

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