SEASON ENDS WITH DEFEAT TO MINSK

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Dynamo Minsk 1:2 (1:0, 0:1, 0:1) – first leg: 0:1, Dynamo Minsk advances to Nadezhda Cup quarter-finals.

Goals: 20. Šatan (Radivojevič, Mojžíš) - 26. Yefimenko (Irgl, Surový), 60. Alexei Kalyuzhny (Materukhin)

Penalties: 4:2 (2 min.), Powerplay goals: 1:0, Shorthanded: 0:0. Officials: Safiullov, Bukin - Maitak, Pronskikh. Attendance: 6,085.

Lineups:
HC SLOVAN: Janus - Štajnoch, Škoula, Mojžíš, V. Mihálik, Sigalet, Luža - Miklík, Bližňák, Vondrka - Šatan, Radivojevič, M. Bakoš - Kukumberg, J. Mikúš, Bartovič - T. Mikúš, A. Šťastný, L. Hudáček
Minsk: Milchakov - Krajíček, Goroshko, Lintner, Nogachov, Filichkin, Shinkevich, Kolenchukov - Materukhin, Stas, Alexei Kalyuzhny - Irgl, Surový, Yefimenko - Pavlovich, Kitarov, Zakharov - Dadonov, Drozd, Protasenya

Both teams started the game cautiously, waiting for their opponents to make the first mistake. The hosts made more errors, but Janus was able repeatedly to keep his side from going behind. Slovan had a powerplay late in the period – after a number of ragged passages of play they finally settled in the attacking zone, and Radivojevič crossed precisely for Šatan, whose first-time shot found the net – 1:0.

The visitors could have drawn level from the first move of the second period, but Janus dealt with Materukhin’s shot and the remise from Kalyuzhny. But in the 26th minute, a Dynamo combination came off, and Yefimenko one-on-one with Janus gave the goalie no chance – 1:1. Five minutes later, during a penalty kill, Šatan jinked his way past three players, only let down by an imprecise finish. But it was Minsk who had most of the puck, and looked the more dangerous going forward.

The 1:1 scoreline was enough for Dynamo, so they guarded carefully in center ice. Slovan reached Milchakov but seldom, while Janus was kept busy. Towards the end, Slovan couldn’t find the strength to make a result, a last-minute powerplay coming to nothing. Thus their season came to a close as Kalyuzhny dealt the killer blow into the empty net – 1:2.