Missed Chances End in Heavy Defeat

Barys Astana – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 6:1 (1:0, 3:1, 2:0)

Goals: 4. Savchenko (Rudenko, Bartulis), 23. Pushkaryov, 24. Dallman (Bochenski, Boyd), 37. Rudenko (Starchenko), 51. Starchenko (Savchenko, Rudenko), 54. Romanov (Pushkaryov) – 26. Nedorost (Bartovič)

Lineups:
Barys Astana: Laco – Lundin, Dallman, Savchenko, Bartulis, Tserenok, Blokhin, Ryspayev, Ibraibekov – Dawes, Boyd, Bochenski – Rudenko, Upper, Starchenko – Zhailauov, Gavrilin, Pushkaryov – Popovich, Romanov, Rakhmanov
HC SLOVAN: Janus (24. Backlund) – Sigalet, Brejčák, Baranka, Sersen, Mihálik, Štajnoch, Luža – Bartovič, Surový, Rachůnek – Vondrka, Nedorost, Netík – Jeglič, Tičar, Nagy – White, Bližňák, Šťastný

The game did not start well for Slovan, as Jeglič headed to the sin bin for a foul on Laco in the 2nd minute. In the resulting powerplay, Starchenko got the puck on the blue line, and his low shot went through everything - 1:0. Slovan then had a powerplay of their own, but shots from Nagy Štajnoch did not find the target. Laco was made to sweat when Surový shot from between the circles, but he kept him out with his pad. In the 10th minute, Barys Astana very nearly celebrated their second, but Starchenko failed to direct his touch into the empty net. Ladislav Nagy broke free brilliantly in the 14th and bore down on goal, but sent his backhand agonisingly wide. Two minutes later, Laco spread himself perfectly to repel a shot from Tičar, while at the other end the Barys first line came mighty close after defensive errors by the visitors.

In the 23rd minute, that old adage proved correct - if you don't score, you'll concede. First Jeglič missed from a fine position between the circles, then Sigalet's error at the other end allowed Pushkaryov in to score - 2:0. The home crowd celebrated again just seconds later, when Dallman managed to get the puck past Janus in a goalmouth scramble - 3:0. That brought about a change, as Backlund replaced Janus in goal. In the 26th minute, things were looking up from Slovan's point of view – Bartovič sent through Nedorost, who smashed in our first goal - 3:1. Another chance came Slovan's way during a powerplay, as Netík let fly a testing shot, but Vondrka was unable to knock in the rebound. The hosts then had a powerplay of their own, and they immediately made it count, Rudenko the first to beat Backlund – 4:1.

The final period in the final game of Slovan's fourth away trip played itself out mostly on centre ice. Aware of their three-goal advantage, Barys guarded their blue line - and their defensive zone - particularly well; our forays in the attacking third were mostly restricted to the corners and along the boards. In the 48th minute Slovan broke away, and Bartovič played in Nagy in front of goal, but he lacked the time to make the finish. A Barys powerplay then offered defenceman Dallman the chance to add to his tally, but it was forward Roman Starchenko who added the fifth in the 51st minute, directing the puck past Backlund after Savchenko's shot - 5:1. Three minutes later, Romanov broke away, and his slapshot marked off the hosts' sixth goal - 6:1. Slovan was unable to notch up a second goal, even in a late powerplay, and they leave Astana with a heavy defeat.

Petri Matikainen: It's hard for me to evaluate the game after such a defeat. I thought we played a good first period, but unfortunately we conceded a goal shorthanded right at the beginning. The following two periods were not good from our perspective - we lost the individual contests, and our movement was weaker. Astana played really well, and they outplayed us in every department. Still, with the chances we created, once again we failed to convert them into goals.