Finishing Woes Trouble Slovan

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Vityaz Podolsk 0:2 (0:0, 0:1, 0:1)

Goals: 29. Tsyganov (Kempe, Horák), 60. Afinogenov (Kempe). Officials: Gamalei, Gusev - Streltsov, Tarasov.

Penalties: 4:3 (2 min.), Powerplay goals: 0:1, Shorthanded: 0:0. Attendance: 7,719.

HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Backlund – Štajnoch, Sigalet, Brejčák, Baranka, Sersen, Mihálik, Luža – Surový, Murley, Bartovič - Ružička, Nedorost, Nagy - Jeglič, Tičar, Vondrka – Šťastný, Bližňák, Ölvecký

Vityaz Podolsk: Säteri - Porseland, Vereshchagin, Semionov, Grebeshkov, Seleznyov, Golovkov, Berdyukov, Kudinov - Kempe, Horák, Tsyganov – Afinogenov, Kucheriavenko, Shitikov – Korolyov, Kousal, Solodukhin – Ivanov, Yakubov, Vyglazov

The opening stages of Thursday's contest were not pretty; both teams felt their way around gingerly, only sending easy pucks towards the goaltenders. The fans had to wait till the 7th minute for the first recognisable chance, which at least fell to the home side. Murley played in Bartovič, but his effort from a good position was cut out by Säteri in the Podolsk net. The Sky Blues threatened again in the 10th minute - Säteri could only parry Nagy's shot, and Murley had the goal at his mercy, but the goaltender pulled off a quite spectacular save to keep the game scoreless. Vityaz, so far toothless going forward, carved out their first serious chance in the 15th minute. Korolyov broke after a defensive error, but failed face-to-face with Backlund. The hosts had a couple more chances, playing a powerplay late in the period, but all to no avail.

The picture didn't change much in the second period either. The game lacked energy, and both teams made a number of errors. Slovan did have the better of the play, but little in the way of genuine chances. Even when they put together a 2-on-1 overlap, Jeglič failed to set up Vondrka. Sersen then took the puck through the whole attacking zone, but hesitated in front of goal, and his shot from a tighter angle could cause Säteri no trouble. Backlund had even less to do, handling only six shots up to the 29th minute. He didn't even get a chance to make a save in the visitors' powerplay that followed, as it ended with the first shot. The Slovan defence failed to clear the puck, Kempe passed to Tsygan, and he sent Podolsk into the lead - 0:1. It all might have turned out differently, had Nagy succeeded one-on-one with Säteri just seconds before the goal. Slovan continued to press, but Säteri kept out chance after chance, leaving the hosts scratching their heads.

The grand chance of an equaliser came straight after the break. Slovan outnumbered Podolsk 3-to-2, Ružička played in Nagy, and he finally beat Säteri. But not the post. And nobody got to the rebound either. Backlund was called upon at the other end to save from Kousal's skillful touch, as the Sky Blues struggled to beat the visiting netminder, but nothing came of it even in a closing powerplay, Podolsk instead scoring a second into the empty net - 0:2. Thus Slovan recorded their third defeat on the trot.
      
Petri Matikainen, Slovan head coach: "I can't say a bad word about my team; we played a good game. We showed the kind of hockey we want to play. We skated, we moved well, we attacked, and we were good in the individual contests. The only thing we lacked was goals. I don't know why we're having such bad luck, but if we keep playing like that, the goals will come."

Oleg Orekhovsky, Podolsk head coach: "We handled the first period pretty well. The second was harder for us, our opponents pressed us more, they were more active, but our goalie saved us. Slovan played well in defence too. I'm pleased with the way we handled the game today. We had only one day off, and we were exhausted both physically and mentally, but this win has helped us."