Slovan Takes All Three Points Off Dynamo!

Dynamo Moscow – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 1:2 (0:1, 1:1, 0:0)

Goals: 28. Robinson (Karsums) – 16. Kašpar (Barker), 26. Mihalik (Kozák, Bartovič)

Lineups:
Dynamo: Lazushin (Serebriakov) – Mironov, Vishnevsky, Hietanen, Robinson, Barantsev, Osipov, A. Volkov – Kokarev, Gorovikov (A), Pestushko – Karsums, Tsvetkov (A), Karpov – Galimov, K. Volkov, Babenko (C) – Avtsin, Dugin, Tarasov – Igumnov
HC SLOVAN: Brust (Garnett) – Barker, Novák, Starosta, Švarný, Mihalik, Kozák, Luža – Kašpar, Nedorost, Nagy (A) – Jeglič, Tičar, Šťastný – Surový (C), Viedenský, Bartovič (A) – Skalický, Lušňák, Skokan

In the opening ten minutes, Slovan had more play in the attacking zone. Despite the apparent pressure, however, they were limited to shots from the blue line, Lazushin handling efforts from Švarný, Barker and Kašpar. In the 8th minute, Barry Brust was also called into action, batting down Robinson's long effort, and lucky to see Tsvetkov unable to follow it up. Tičar came close from between the circles soon after, while Gorovikov forced a fine save from Brust in the 15th minute. Slovan had a powerplay at the end of the period, which did not bear fruit, but Kašpar then found himself alone in front of goal, handled the puck well, and opened the scoring - 0:1. Three minutes from the siren, the puck found its way into Brust's net, sparking celebrations from the home fans in the Legends Arena. But the goal was disalowed due to an attacker's deliberate kick of the puck. In the 19th minute, Nedorost nearly added a second, but his shot struck the post.

Dynamo upped their game in the second period. Thanks to the excellent Brust, a two-on-one overlap in the 22nd minute came away empty-handed, while a mistake on centre ice let in Pestushko two minutes later, but Brust made a vital save once again. Two Slovan powerplays followed, and Vladimír Mihalik scored from the edge of the left circle - 0:2. In the 28th, the home fans finally had a goal to celebrate, Matt Robinson's shot from the blue line punishing a poor clearance - 1:2. Lukáš Kašpar could have scored his second at the other end, but he shot at the middle of the net.

HC SLOVAN kept Dynamo at arm's length in the third period, but they let down their guard in the 47th, allowing Karpov to break, but his finish was just wide. A foul from Bartovič then handed the hosts a powerplay, and Brust was pusjed to the limit to keep out Osipov's effort. Dynamo had another chance in another powerplay, after Mihalik's foul, but our defence once again held firm and retained their one-goal advantage. Slovan concentrated on defence in the closing minutes, not allowing Dynamo futher chances. Slovan's first away game of their first away trip earns them a valuable three points against a strong Dynamo team.

Miloš Říha: After dropping points at home, we worked on discipline, more vigorous play, and on defence. We played the first period exactly as we would have intended, and we were the better team. Dynamo is a really strong team, and they pressed us in the second period, and we gave away some unnecessary fouls. In the third period, we returned to our game, and I think our victory is deserved.