MISSED CHANCES IN MAGNITOGORSK COST SLOVAN

Metallurg Magnitogorsk – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 6:2 (2:0, 4:1, 0:1)

Goals: 10. Pare (Osala), 20. Mozyakin (Zaripov, Kovář), 21. Kovář (Zaripov), 26. Kovář (Zaripov), 33. Zaripov (Mozyakin), 34. Osala (Timkin) – 37. Mojžíš (Radivojevič), 47. Vondrka (Miklík)

Lineups:
Metallurg: Košečkin – Antipin, Biryukov, Tereshchenko, Lee, Malenkikh, Ibragimov, Khabarov – Mozyakin, Zaripov, Kovář – Pare, Kazionov, Timkin – Brent, Platonov, Potekhin – Kamenev, Osala, Malinovsky – Shenfeld.
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus – Sigalet, Škoula, Trončinský, Mihálik, Mojžíš, Štajnoch, Brejčák – Vondrka, Bližňák, Miklík – Ölvecký, J. Mikúš, Bartovič – Hudáček, Radivojevič, Šatan – T. Mikúš, Šťastný, B. Mráz – Matoušek.

Magnitogorsk surprised Slovan with their early activity, and created a number of good chances. Miklík could have beaten Koshechkin in the first minute, and Vondrka soon after, but the home goalie made saves with pads and helmet. Šatan had no luck either, his feint read by Koshechkin after Trončinský’s pass. Bartovič also had a shot blocked in the 8th minute, and his follow up went just wide. Three minutes later, the home side opened the scoring. Osala found Pare open in front of goal, and Janus couldn’t cover the far post – 1:0. Osala had a chance on the backhand himself, while Mozyakin failed to connect in front of an open net. Hudáček also failed for Slovan, electing to pass to Šatan instead of shooting. In the closing stages, Ölvecký, Šatan and Štajnoch all produced fine saves from Koshechkin, whereas Mozyakin punished a defensive error with a backhand – 2:0.

Slovan didn’t make the ideal start to the middle period – Kovář put a third past Janus after just 27 seconds – 3:0. Slovan then played shorthanded, but when Tomáš Mikúš picked out Bruno Mráz there was a chance to pull one back. Alas, the young forward’s finish didn’t go according to plan. The 26^th minute saw another Slovan defensive error, and the shot from Kovář bounded into the net after Trončinský’s touch – 4:0. Half-way through the game Slovan was lucky not to concede in a goalmouth scramble, but Zaripov soon made it five, converting in a powerplay – 5:0. Just a minute later, Osala added another – 6:0, after which Miro Kopřiva replaced Janus in goal. Tomáš Mojžíš ended Koshechkin’s clean sheet in the 37^th with a shot from the blue line – 6:1.

Juraj Mikúš threatened the home net in the 41st minute, while Kopřiva was alert while the first line attack occupied our zone. The Czech goalie also kept out Potehin’s, whose shot came close to extending the lead. Miklík put Vondrka through in the 47th, and he hit the top corner – 6:2. The Miklík-Vondrka combination was working well, and Koshechkin was at pains to keep them at bay. Čada’s charges then had a powerplay, but both Vondrka and Šatan broke their sticks from good positions. The hosts offered Slovan nothing in the closing stages and celebrated three points with a 6:2 win.

Rostislav Čada: We certainly played a good first period today. We created a lot of chances, but the home goalie and our inability to convert were to blame for the 0:2 scoreline. In the second period we lost the puck a lot in center ice and our defensive zone, which the opposition took advantage of, and that decided the outcome. We played cautious defense in the third period – we managed to score a second goal, and didn’t concede any more.