Slovan loses won game

Medvescak Zagreb – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 5:4 (0:2, 3:2, 2:0)

Goals: 30. Thomas (Bjorkstrand), 30. Glumac (Perkovich, Carle), 37. Murray (Glumac), 46. Hedberg (Thomas, Bjorkstrand), 51. Pelletier (St. Pierre) – 14. Jeglič (Tičar), 16. Šťastný (Surový), 24. Murley (Vondrka, Barker), 26. Murley (Štajnoch, Barker)

Lineups:
Medveščak: Owuya (from 26. Heeter) – Morrissonn, Flood, Martinović, Carle, Popovic, Hutchinson, Kinrade – Pelletier, St. Pierre, Leino – Perkovich, Murray, Glumac – Thomas, Bjorkstrand, Hedberg – Segal, McLean, Beaudoin
HC SLOVAN: Janus (LeNeveu) – Sersen (A), Luža, Barker, Štajnoch, Kozák, Starosta, Šťastný – Nagy (A), Nedorost, Bartovič (C) – Jeglič, Tičar, Netík – Vondrka, Murley, Hudáček – Ölvecký, Surový, Kudrna

The sixth encounter between the two teams also marked their first outings in 2015. The home side had the better start, pushing Slovan back towards their own net, Hedburg and McLean both threatening Janus. The Slovan third line then kept Medvescak back in their own zone, with Vondrka producing a number of efforts on Owuya. Janus kept Slovan level in a Medvescak powerplay, and Tičar's entry at the end of it gave him a chance to break away, but was pressured into a miss. In a similar move, the Slovene put in Jeglič, whose slapshot hit the top corner 0:1. In the 16th minute the Slovan joy doubled, as Andrej Šťastný knocked in Surový's effort – 0:2.

Slovan made the perfect start to the middle period. Vondrka failed to convert a golden opportunity in the 22nd minute, shooting directly at Owuya, but Murley hit the target in the next attack - 3:0. Two minutes later, Štajnoch served up Murley perfectly, and the American scored his second with a brilliant finish, which also spelled the end for Owuya in goal - 0:4. Matikainen's men went through a weaker spell half-way through the game, and the hosts immediately capitalised. First, a weak effort from Thomas got past Janus, then Glumac kept his composure in front of goal to make it two in ten seconds – 2:4. After a quiet patch, Slovan failed to convert from a three-on-one break, and paid the price at the other end, as Medvescak countered and Murray slotted home from between the circles – 3:4. 

The Sky Blues concentrated on defence in the final period, but held onto their fragile lead less than five minutes. Hedberg found himself completed uncovered in front of goal, and duly equalised. 4:4. Bartovič and Nagy could both have regained the lead straight after, but both shot at Heeter. In the 49th minute, Thomas got away from the Slovan defence, but Janus pulled off a top-class save, and again seconds later to deny Glumac. But the home team completed the perfect turnaround in the 50th minute, as Pelletier got the puck in the left circle, and Janus was beaten for the fifth time - 5:4. Netík had a chance to send the game into overtime, but his effort only found Heeter's mitt. Slovan pulled the goalie late on, but the equaliser failed to materialise.

Petri Matikainen: Today was a nightmare for us. For half an hour we played a good game, we didn't give them a chance, we kept to our defensive system and scored four goals. I can't explain what happened, we stopped playing, they scored two quick goals, and we handed everything over to them. Difficult to judge it, we're all deeply disappointed; we should have taken all three points today. Injuries to defenders don't help the situation, and Nedorost, Tičar and Vondrka didn't make it through the game today. But we have to keep fighting and try to win the games to come.