Shut Out by Severstal

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Severstal Cherepovets 0:3 (0:2, 0:1, 0:0)

Goals: 8. Mons (Chernov, Kagarlitsky), 13. Buchnevich, 24. Buchnevich (Stolyarov, Almqvist). Penalties 3:5 (2 min.), Powerplay Goals 0:0, Shorthanded 0:0. Officials: Bulanov, Olenin - Balodis, Birin. Attendance: 8,832.

HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus (13. Backlund) - Sersen, Baranka, Foster, Sigalet, Starosta, Mihálik - Nagy, Nedorost, Vondrka - Netík, Surový, Hudáček - Murley, Bližňák, Bartovič - Jeglič, Tičar, White
Severstal Cherepovets: Štěpánek - Urbom, Almqvist, Stasenko, Shinin, Shefer, Lukin, Arzamastsev - Buchnevich, Stolyarov, Kvapil - Mons, Chernov, Kagarlitsky - Kazakovtsev, Kovyrshin, Nikontsev - Monakhov, Zemchenko, Dedunov - Kuptsov

Before the opening face off, the club held a minute's silence as a tribute to two figures from Slovak hockey - former international Miroslav Hlinka, and long-standing national team doctor Vladimír Lupták, who both died on Sunday. Slovan started at their opponents with verve, winning an early powerplay, but made poor use of the advantage; Foster's hesitation even allowed Zemchenko to break away while shorthanded. He failed to convert, but another breakaway, just after Lukinov's return to the ice, saw Mons shoot accurately - 0:1. Lax defending from Foster led to a second goal in the 13th minute - Bučnevič powered through the Canadian back between the circles and buried a low shot - 0:2. At this point, Backlund replaced Janus in goal. The Sky Blues did create some pressure in two powerplays that followed, but speed - or an element of surprise - were found wanting in their combination play.

Hoping to find a way back, Slovan pressed forward more in the second period, but left the back door open. In the 24th minute, Cherepovets broke away with an overlap, and Stolyarov set up Buchnevich - 0:3. Mons soon found himself clear in front of Backlund, but the Swedish goalie managed to keep him out from up close. Stolyarov came close to punishing further careless defending, but he missed the open net, while wide-open Buchnevich shot straight at Backlund from between the circles. Slovan responded with Netík's solo effort while shorthanded, but his opponent's late slash went unpunished. Sersen and Hudáček then gave Štěpánek work to do, but the Czech goalie's performance was flawless. Towards the end of the period, the tempo increased, and Nikontsev and Kvapil both had chances to put the visitors further in front.

In the final period, Slovan continued their assault on Štěpánek's net in vain. The watchful Severstal defence presented the hosts with no shooting opportunities, while looking to capitalise on further errors. In the 47th minute, Stolyarov shot at Backlund from between the circles, while Buchnevich attempted to find a way in from behind the net. Slovan's attempts at creating pressure were then hampered by needless fouls by Bartovič and Nagy. The captain did let fly a strong shot in the 54th, but Štěpánek remained impenetrable. The visitors calmy kept control until the siren, and celebrated their second win of the season.

Rostislav Čada: "Today our movement was inadequate, which showed in the poor way we  challenged  our opponents and occupied space. We lost the individual battles and we allowed the opposition attempts on goal. We failed to create sustained pressure on their goal, and even when we tried and fought hard, it wasn't enough to score or get a point. Regarding Foster, it was clear he'd had a long break from training and matchplay. But he's an experienced player - we'll see how he handles it."