Favoured Omsk Makes No Mistake in Bratislava

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Avangard Omsk 0:3 (0:1, 0:2, 0:0) 

Goals: 9. Lekomtsev (Erat), 32. Lemtyugov (Valentenko, N. Glukhov), 40. Parshin (Kempný, Lekomtsev) 
Penalties: 3:3 (2 min.), Powerplay goals: 0:1, Shorthanded: 0:0. Officials: Gashilov, Naumov - Raming, Shikhanov (all RUS). Attendance: 10,055.

Lineups: 
Slovan: Garnett - Sersen, Barker, Luža, Mihálik, J. Valach, Švarný, L. Kozák - L. Kašpar, V. Nedorost, Paré - L. Nagy, T. Surový, Bartovič - Jeglič, Tičar, A. Šťastný - Miklík, Viedenský, Skalický 
Omsk: Kostin - Alexandrov, Ahnelöv, Kempný, Lekomtsev, N. Glukhov, Valentenko, Dervuk - I. Zubov, A. Popov, Parshin - Perezhogin, Sobotka, Erat - Chernikov, J. Petrov, Shirokov - Lemtyugov, A. Glukhov, Mikheyev - (35 min.) Fishchenko 

Right from the opening face off, both teams showed off some attractive hockey, with a number of chances, although Slovan was forced to defend an early powerplay for the visitors. The hosts conceded in the 9th minute, when Garnett got something on a medium-range effort from Lekomtsev, but the puck still crept over the line - 0:1. Nagy hit the post after a defensive error behind the net, while a fine sole effort across the whole rink from Jeglič failed to produce the desired equaliser, nor did a late powerplay for the home side.

Avangard were causing Slovan problems with their speed, and it told in the 32nd minute, when Lemtyugov sped in to hurry up Garnett, who missed the puck in attempting to clear, allowing the forward to score in the empty net - 0:2. The visitors added a third in a powerplay in the final minute of the period, as Parshin got through to Garnett unchallenged and knocked the puck between his legs - 0:3.

In the final period, Slovan tried hard to make something happen, but a watchful Omsk defence allowed them little. Slovan could not find a way through the back line, even after the visitors took a time out, so the Sky Blues' four-game winning streak came to an end.

Miloš Říha (Slovana coach): "Our opponents played more hockey; it was as if we were afraid of Avangard. Hence the result. We gave away two silly goals. We created chances, but once again they didn't come off. If we'd got back to one goal behind, it could have been more interesting."

Yevgeny Kornoukhov (Avangard coach): "It's an important victory. I thank the players for their performance. Our upcoming matches will also be difficult."