Slovan slip up in Khanty-Mansiysk

Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 3:1 (1:0, 1:1, 1:0)

Goals: 8. Krysanov (Glazačev, Trončinsky), 40. Skorochodov (Krysanov, Safronov), 60. Krysanov (Glazačev, Demagin) - 35. Kytnár (Kukumberg)

Shots: 34:31, penalties: 1:4, powerplay goals: 0:0, shorthanded goals 0:0, attendance: 2 750, officials: Gofman Roman, Ronn Jyri - Misyur Sergei, Raming Stanislav

Rosters:
Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk: Birjukov - Pepeľaev, Grebeškov, Safronov, Ibragimov, Trončinsky, Starosta - Skorokhodov, Satnikov, Magogin - Krysanov, Glazačev, Demagin - Buľansky, Rybakov - Beľaev, Yacenko, Bocharov

HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus –  Sigalet, Sersen, Bakoš, Bližňák, Miklík – Ďatelinka, Švarný (A), Hudáček, Ölvecký, Bartovič (C) – Mojžíš, Tabaček, Kudrna, Kytnár, Kukumberg (A) – Trška, Mihálik, Mikúš, Preisinger, Daňo

Both teams started Friday’s game cautiously, not wanting to make mistakes. Yugra had the better of the chances but Janus made the necessary saves. HC SLOVAN looked sluggish in the early going, and eventually Yugra got the goal they deserved, as Krysanov scored on his backhand to make it 1:0 to the home side. HC SLOVAN battled back after going behind, as Sersen and Mikúš went close. The game went from side to side, and Yugra had two great chances in the 18^th minute while Švarný was in the penalty box, but Janus made two great stops to keep the deficit at one.

The second period saw Yugra assert their advantage once more, and control most of the play. In the 29^th minute HC SLOVAN had a good chance with a Sersen shot, but the defenceman shot wide. A minute later Rybakov went close for the home side, but a great intervention by Kytnár kept the score to 1:0. After a huge mistake by the Yugra defence, Bližňák had a golden chance to level the game, but Mikhail Biryukov made a fantastic save to deny the HC SLOVAN centre. However, a few seconds later, Kukumberg won the face off and Kytnár fired a shot which beat Biryukov glove side. However, with Yugra back on the powerplay in the final minute of the period, Skorochodov found the back of the net to send the teams into the second intermission with the score at 2:1.

HC SLOVAN battled to get back into the game in the third and final period, with Kukumberg, Sersen and Ölvecký all going close but failing to beat Biryukov. Kukumberg and Kytnar were leading the offence, and they had a great chance in the 51^st minute but failed to score. Despite going to the powerplay, HC SLOVAN tried hard but could not breach the Yugra defence. Janus was pulled with 48 seconds to go in an attempt to get the equaliser, but Krysanov put the puck into the empty net to make the final score 3:1.