SLOVAN SUCCESS IN PODOLSK

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

Goals: 46. Ivanov (Koksharov, Korolyov) – 35. Bakoš (J. Brejčák, Šťastný), deciding penalty shot: Šatan

Lineups:
Vityaz: Backlund – Porseland, Berdyukov, Seleznyov, Golovkov, Rozin, Mezei, Korovkin, Kudinov – Solodukhin, Shitikov, Cibák – Afinogenov, Ziazov, Makeyev – Korolyov, Kousal, Ivanov – Vasiliev, Shatsky, Kudinov
HC SLOVAN Bratislava:  Janus – Škoula, Štajnoch, Mihálik, Sigalet, J. Brejčák, Mojžíš, Luža, Daňo – Hudáček, Radivojevič, Šatan – Bartovič (C), J. Mikúš, Miklík – Ölvecký (A), Bližňák (A), Kukumberg – T. Mikúš, Šťastný, Bakoš

Inside four minutes, Slovan defended shorthanded thanks to Brejčák’s foul. Jaro Janus pulled off some fine saves, first from Afinogenov, then off Golovkov seconds later. The hosts continued to press in even-handed play – Ivanov shot straight at Janus, who also kept out an effort from Kousal. Vityaz enjoyed a territorial advantage, but Slovan defended well to keep them from creating genuine chances. In the 18^th minute, Korolyov had the best chance so far, but Janus showed his mettle to deal with the shot from up close.

Janus remained busy at the start of the second period. His pad just kept out Ziazov in the 23^rd minute, while his shoulder stopped Korolyov’s effort a minute later. Slovan’s first major chance fell to Šatan in the 27^th, but his backhand just missed the target. Kukumberg’s foul allowed Vityaz to come close, but Janus made another outstanding save off Makeyev’s shot. Slovan soon had to defend a five-on-three powerplay, but it was the visitors who opened the scoring soon after. Šťastný fed Brejčák , Backlund repelled the shot, and Bakoš was on hand to slot home – 0:1.

Slovan had their first powerplay in the 42^nd minute, but didn’t use it well, allowing Vityaz to defend comfortably. The home side equalized soon after - Korolyov’s cross-shot struck Ivanov’s skate and bounced into the net – 1:1. The equalizer fired up the tempo of the game, and the fourth line attack could have added a second goal, but Šťastný elected not to shoot, instead passing to Bakoš, who couldn’t get to the puck. Further chances for Slovan went begging in their powerplay six minutes from the end. When Šatan and Hudáček broke away two-on-one but came away empty-handed, the game went into overtime.

Slovan was the better team in overtime, but chances for Miklík and Bartovič were saved by Backlund. Thus the game was decided by shoot-out. Slovan claimed the two points thanks to goals from Bartovič, Šatan and Štajnoch, while Janus made two saves.

Rostislav Čada: Our movement in the first period was inadequate, which was down to the two previous games being tough. Nevertheless, we managed to repel pressure from the home team through hard work and disciplined play. We were more equal in the second period, and that enabled us to take the lead. We could have held on, but the opposition managed to score in the third period. But we put in a convincing display in the shoot-out, so we’ve taken the two points.