Slovan Draws Short Straw

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Atlant 4:5 (1:2, 1:0, 2:3)

Goals: 19. Nagy (Sersen, Murley), 37. Hudáček (Nagy, Sersen), 44. Nagy (Kozák, Sersen), 52. Murley (Barker, Hudáček) - 6. Taratukhin (Yarullin), 7. Shmelyov (Potapov), 44. Yunkov (Leshchenko), 52. Soshnikov (Korobov), 57. Soshnikov. Officials: Vasiliev, Kadyrov - Parfyonov, Sysuyev.

Penalties: 5:4, Powerplay goals: 2:0, Shorthanded: 0:0. Attendance: 7,574.
      
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus (7. Baroš) – Sersen, Starosta, Štajnoch, Barker, Brejčák, Kozák, Mihálik – Hudáček, Murley, Nagy - Netík, Tičar, Jeglič - Kudrna, Surový, White - Ölvecký, Šťastný, Lunter
Atlant Mytishchi: Engren - Korobov, Gilroy, Novopashin, Sorokin, Yarullin, Tyulyapkin, Babčuk - Soshnikov, Potapov, Shmelyov - Chernov, Bodrov, Khlopotov - Kozlov, Taratukhin, Levitsky - Leshchenko, Voroni, Yunkov - Jekimovs
      
Right from the start, the game was played at a high tempo, and the hosts created the first chance, when Hudáček shot just wide from Nagy's pass. But it was the visitors who began to assert themselves over time, and they opened the scoring in the 6th minute. The Slovan defence paved the way for Taratukhin, who skated in front of goal from the backboards and calmly converted - 0:1. Ninety seconds later it was two, as Shmelyov shot from behind the face-off circle to beat Janus - 0:2. This brought about his replacement by Baroš, making his competitive debut in the Slovan goal. The Sky Blues upped their efforts, but were lacking in imagination. The stirred the home crowd to a loud chant of "budíček" (Wake Up!). They could have done in the 16th, but Netík overcomplicated things in front of Engren. At the other end, Baroš showed his stuff to deny Yunkov during a penalty kill. Slovan finally hauled themselves back into the game in a powerplay in the 19th minute, when Nagy's wristy finish found the gap to beat Engren - 1:2.

The standard fell away in the second period; Slovan pressed forward, but struggled to make it past the Atlant blue line. Half-way through the game, Leshchenko bore down on goal, but Baroš was equal to his backhand. At the other end, Hudáček found himself all alone after Nagy put him through, but he too spurned the chance. The Sky Blues' most productive player then sent the stands wild with a wonderful solo effort, but Engren performed a miracle to catch his backhand. Nagy went one better in the 37th minute, sailing down the right wing and setting up Hudáček - 2:2.
      
Slovan had to defend 71 seconds shorthanded five-on-three over the break. Immediately after, they served up their third goal to take the lead for the first time. Once again it was Nagy, who calmly slotted in the rebound from Kozák's shot. - 3:2. But the hosts barely had time to celebrate, as Leshchenko picked out Yunkov half a minute later, and he equalised - 3:3. The game then took on a heavier tone, and Murley gave Slovan the lead again when Barker's effort hit him and fell to him favourably. But once again, Atlant struck back immediately, this time Soshnikov the scorer - 4:4. The same man sealed the game in the visitors' favour just minutes from the siren, skating through and firing past Baroš. The puck was not at first visible, as it lodged behind the back bar, but the video referee confirmed the bad news - 4:5. When Hudáček was hooked in front of goal, he had one last chance to equalise and force overtime, but his penalty shot went agonisingly wide. A final powerplay without the goaltender offered nothing more, completing an abject home series for Slovan.
      
Petri Matikainen, Slovan head coach: "One word - catastrophe. Above all an older goaltender has to make saves, pull the team up, which didn't happen. Janus needs to wake up. Samuel Baroš started quite well after the substitution, but we need Johan Backlund back. As soon as we scored, we conceded. Unbelievable. The older players are making mistakes on the ice that are unacceptable. Our first line led things well today, but the others were weak. This is a big chance for the younger players, but I don't like the way they're playing. They're not giving everything they have. They're not hungry enough; it's unbelievable."