AWAY TRIP ENDS WITH DEFEAT IN OMSK

Avangard Omsk – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 4:2 (2:0. 2:0, 0:2)

Goals: 13. Kuryanov (Lyamin.), 20. Kulyash (Kuryanov), 22. Baranka (Popov), 35. Popov (Kostitsyn) – 48. Netík (Bartovič), 56. Bakoš (Sersen)

Complete statistics HERE.

Lineups:
Avangard Omsk: Kostin – Kulyash, Pivtsakin, Baranka, Blaťák, Lyamin, Goncharov, Poleshchuk – Semin, Kazakov, Kostitsyn – Ružička, Popov, Perezhogin – Kuryanov, Shirokov, Ivanov – Zherebtsov, Kalinin, Berdnikov.
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus – Sersen, Škoula, Bartovič, Bližňák, Netík – Mihálik, Štajnoch, Radivojevič, Ölvecký, Miklík – Mojžíš, Brejčák, Hudáček, Kukumberg, Bakoš – Kutlák, Daňo, Matoušek, Šťastný, T. Mikúš

Both teams had powerplays early in the game, but neither goaltender was tested. Soon after Kuryanov’s return, the home team found the net, but the goal did not stand, thanks to a foul on Janus. Avangard put pressure on shorthanded Slovan after Škoula’s foul, but Janus kept out all their efforts, including a major chance for Ivanov. Avangard made their third powerplay count, Kuryanov beating Janus up close with a backhand -1:0. Daňo and Bartovič had major chances to equalize, the latter’s backhand failing to find the net. Eight seconds from the siren, Říha’s team worked open the defense with quick passing, and Shirokov doubled the lead – 2:0.

Ivan Baranka shot from the blue line straight from a face off in the 22^nd minute, and his shot found the net – 3:0. Janus was in action again two minutes later, this time dealing with a testing shot from Slovak Štefan Rúžička. An Avangard powerplay in the 27^th presented Rúžička with another great chance, but Janus again cut it out. Omsk applied tremendous pressure in the second period, resulting in additional penalties against our team. Popov capitalized on one of them in the 35^th minute, slotting into an open goal - 4:0.

Despite the unfavourable scoreline, Slovan did not lay down their weapons. In the 46^th minute, Čada’s charges had a powerplay, and Miklík very nearly scored from Hudáček’s cross, as did Tomáš Mikúš soon after. Slovan finally found the net in the 49^th, Bartovič brilliantly setting up Netík, whose shot into the top corner gave Kostin no chance – 4:1. A couple of minutes after the goal, sparks began to fly, both Sigalet and Daňo dealing a few blows to the opposition, while another Slovan powerplay saw Sersen hit the post. Four minutes from the end, Bakoš made his way over the blue line down the right, and his shot beat Kostin – 4:2. In spite of their improving performance, Slovan couldn’t add to the tally, finishing off their road trip with another defeat.

Rostislav Čada: “As a team, we’re a really tight unit. During the break we had seven players representing their country. In spite of that, we won three of our first four games at home and we managed points in Ugra as well. Unfortunately, we lost three key players on this road trip through injury. We lacked movement, didn’t show strength. Today we fought hard enough, and Janus put in a great performance in goal. Nevertheless we leave here with a 4:2 defeat.“