Dominant Slovan Drops Points

HC SLOVANBratislava - AK Bars Kazan 1:2 (SO) (0:1, 1:0, 0:0 - 0:0, 0:1)

Goals: 33. Barker (Kašpar) - 15. Tkachiov (Glukhov, Rylov), Deciding penalty shot: Malykhin. Penalties: 3:4, Powerplay goals: 1:0, Shorthanded: 0:0. Officials: Bondar, Sidorenko - Korshak, Chernyshev. Attendance: 8,854.

Lineups:
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Brust - Barker, Luža, Sersen, Valach, Švarný, Starosta, Kozák - Paré, Nedorost, Kašpar – Bartovič, Surový, Miklík – Jeglič, Tičar, Šťastný – Lušňák, Viedenský, Skalický
AK Bars Kazan: Garipov – Rylov, Yarullin, Zakharchuk, Belov, Korneyev, Dyaloga – Möller, Sjögren, Azevedo – Chibisov, Tkachiov, Lukoyanov – Varnakov, Malykhin, Glukhov – Arkhipov, Golubev, Obukhov

The first major chance of the encounter fell to the home side. Bartovič took the puck down the left, and picked out Surový, who shot hard, but Malykhin managed to get in the block. In the ýth minute, Jeglič played in Valach from behind the goal, but Garipov was able to handle his powerful effort. At the other end, Varnakov a Dyaloga both tested Brust, but the game remained scoreless, despite the high tempo and play going from end to end. Brust made a howler in the 12th minute, passing straight to Lukoyanov from behind the goal, who shot first time, but the home goalie just managed to get back and parry the shot. Three minutes later, however, he conceded. Tkachiov shimmied between two defenders, then shifted right-to-left in front of Brust fired into the top corner.

The teams played four-against-four early in the second period, then a Kazan powerplay soon followed. In the 25th, Möller shot from the blue line, and Sjögren got to the rebound, but Brust just managed to smother the puck. The home team came close to equalizing on the half-hour mark, but Garipov was able to handle Paré's effort. Slovan then had a powerplay of their own, and succeeded in converting it. Kašpar passed up the right side to Barker on the blue line, and his swipe ended up in the net - 1:1. The Sky Blues finished the period the more active of the sides, and kept Garipov busy with a number of chances. But none of Lušňák, Paré of Sersen managed to beat him.

Rylov blundered seriously in the 42nd minute, playing from the behind the net straight to Tičar, but once again Garipov stood out. Slovan could also have seized the lead in a powerplay; despite creating several chances, none of them came off. As time passed, the tempo began to drop, and both teams settled into cautious defence. Slovan was more active at the end, but could do nothing to break the deadlock in regulation time. After a scoreless overtime, the game was decided on penalty shots, and it was Malykhin who finally settled the tie in Ak Bars's favour.