REGULAR SEASON CLOSES WITH NARROW DEFEAT

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Medveščak Zagreb 2:3 (1:0, 1:2, 0:1)

Goals: 7. M. Daňo (Ölvecký), 37. Bartovič (Hudáček, J. Mikúš) - 27. Glumac, 32. K. Foster (Murley, Cheechoo), 41. Murley (Cheechoo)

Penalties: 5:5 (2 min.), Powerplay goals: 0:1, Shorthanded: 0:0. Officials: Naumov, Deyev - Pavlov, Menshikh (all RUS). Attendance: 10,055.

Lineups:
HC SLOVAN: Janus - Štajnoch, Škoula, Sigalet, J. Brejčák, Mojžíš, V. Mihálik - Miklík, Bližňák, Vondrka - Šatan, Radivojevič, M. Bakoš - Bartovič, J. Mikúš, L. Hudáček - Ölvecký, A. Šťastný, M. Daňo
Medveščak: Brust - Popovic, Martinovic, K. Foster, Švarný, Klubertanz, Katic, O'Connor - Cheechoo, Murley, B. Thomas - Vesce, Ellison, Linglet - Glumac, M. Ryan, Jessiman - Bjorkstrand, A. Murray, B. Kane

Slovan started their last game of the regular season strongly, winning a powerplay in the 3^rd minute. The visitors defended carefully, but conceded once even-handed, in the 7^th minute. As Ölvecký fell from being fouled, he passed to Daňo in front of goal, who finished comfortably – 1:0. Two minutes later, Daňo found Ölvecký, but after he broke away, Brust handled his shot. The first period saw further fruitless efforts from Štajnoch, Radivojevič, as well as Vesce and Katic for Zagreb.

Early in the second period two attempts on goal from Šatan were in vain, but Zagreb struck at the other end – defensive indecision in front of Janus allowed Glumac to squeeze the puck home from under the goalie – 1:1. A second goal from the visitors came in the 32^nd minute, Foster slotting into the open net after a sweet pass from Murley – 1:2. The Sky Blues managed to claw back to level pegging before the siren - Mikúš and Hudáček combined to set up Bartovič, who slapped home between Brust’s pads – 2:2.

Slovan handled the start of the final period poorly – Murley got away from the defense by the boards and left Janus to pick the puck out of the net a third time – 2:3. Cheechoo could have made it four in the 49^th minute, but Janus made the save and the defense cleared. The hosts pushed for a late equalizer, but even a late powerplay failed to produce a goal.