ASTANA MAKES IT COUNT

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Barys Astana 2:6 (1:2, 1:1, 0:3) 

Goals: 8. Netík (A. Šťastný, M. Bakoš), 27. Netík (Bartovič) - 7. Starchenko (Antropov, Blokhin), 20. Dawes, 29. Rudenko (Starchenko, Antropov), 44. Litvinenko (Antropov, Starchenko), 45. Starchenko, 52. Boyd (Bochenski) 

Penalties: 3:4 (2 min.); Powerplay Goals: 1:1, Shorthanded: 0:0. Officials: Olenin, Belyayev - Mikhel, Shikhanov (all RUS). Attendance: 10,055.

Lineups: 

HC SLOVAN: Janus - Škoula, Sersen, Sigalet, Kutlák, Štajnoch, Mojžíš - Miklík, Bližňák, Vondrka - Netík, J. Mikúš, Bartovič - Kukumberg, Ölvecký, L. Hudáček - M. Daňo, A. Šťastný, M. Bakoš - T. Mikúš, Matoušek 
Astana: Yeremeyev - Lundin, C. Barker, Savchenko, Litvinenko, Semionov, Blokhin, Grebenshchikov - Bochenski, Boyd, Dawes - Starchenko, Antropov, Rudenko - Romanov, Upper, Zhailauov - Rakhmanov, Polishchuk, Panshin 

In the opening seconds, the visitors set the tone for an active first period – a touch from Dawes going just wide. Shortly after a fruitless Slovan powerplay, Starchenko broke away and flipped the puck just under the bar – 0:1. But the Sky Blues didn’t take long to respond – Šťastný found Netík on the overlap, and his first time shot found the net 1:1. In the 14^th minute, a Škoula-Netík-Miklík combination was denied by Yeremeyev in the visitors’ goal. Barys then took the lead again, half a minute from the siren, Dawes breaking away and making the most of a hesitant defense.

Vondrka had a chance to equalize in the 24^th minute, but his finish went agonisingly wide. But Netík soon gave the sell-out crowd more to cheer about, combining with captain Bartovič in the 27^th, then firing into the top corner – 2:2. Alas, two minutes later and Barys had the lead again. Their second-line attack broke through the defense and Rudenko shot over Janus’s mitt – 2:3. The home goalie kept out Barys for the rest of the period, making saves from Savchenko and Dawes. Netík could have scored his hat trick in a powerplay right before the period end, but Yeremeyev was equal to the shot.

In the 43^rd minute, Dawes’s effort was again in vain, but a minute later a powerplay provided a fourth goal for Barys, defenseman Litvinenko cleaning up the rebound from Antropov’s shot – 2:4. A mere 42 seconds later Starchenko added another, prompting Slovan coach Čada to call a time out - 2:5. Soon after, Kutlák tried his hand from distance, but Yeremeyev was alert. In the 52^nd minute, Boyd hammered the sixth nail in the coffin, converting Bochenski’s pass from behind the goal – 2:6. Dawes then hit the post in the 55^th minute, then shot into Janus’s mitt in the 59^th.

Rostislav Čada: “In the first two periods we were able to keep up with our opponents, thanks to our great effort and application. By the third period it was evident how much our players had drained their strength in the previous encounters. Our opponents outdid us in aggression, so they were able to go on and win the game overall.”