Slovan’s offensive struggles continue

SKA St. Petersburg – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 1:0 (1:0, 0:0, 0:0)

Goal: 5. Kovalchuk

Shots: 24:27, penalties: 2:6, powerplay goals: 0:0, shorthanded goals: 0:0, attendance: 11,600, officials: Buľanov, Ravodin, (Sadovnikov, Sazonov)

Rosters:
SKA St. Petersburg: Bobrovsky - Chudinov, Kalinin, Alexandrov, Dallman, Semenov, Pervyšin, Berďukov, Nepriajev - Martensson, Průcha, Thoresen - Tichonov, Kovalčuk, Tarasenko - Kučerjavenko, Arťuchin, Afinogenov - Fedorov, Rybin, Burdasov
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus - Višňovský, Sigalet, Vondrka, Bližňák, Miklík - Sersen, Švarný, Hudáček, Lipiansky (C), Bartovič (A) - Sekera, Mihálik, Bakoš, Kytnár, Kukumberg (A) - Trška, Ölvecký, Preisinger Kudrna

Friday’s game started out at quite a slow pace, with most of the play in the neutral zone during the first couple of minutes. SKA had the first real chance of the game in the 5^th minute, but the puck was cleared. However, soon after, Jonathan Sigalet was punished for a giveaway, as Ilya Kovalchuk pounced on a poor pass in the neutral zone, cut into the zone before firing a hard shot into the left corner which Janus nearly got to, but was unable to stop. In the 8^th minute Prucha and Thoresen both went close for SKA, but Janus was there to make the saves. Miroslav Preisinger impressed in the first period of the game, going close twice and making a nuisance of himself. Towards the end of the period, HC SLOVAN began getting better chances on Bobrovsky, with the best chance coming for Andrej Kudrna, who went close to getting on the end of a bobbling puck in front of Bobrovsky.

The second period opened with HC SLOVAN on the powerplay, and the point shooters were firing at will but unable to find the back of the net. The game was once again a battle of HC SLOVAN’s defensive style and the powerhouse offence of their opponents. HC SLOVAN were also taking a number of penalties, which forced the best out of Janus. In the 31^st minute Martensson went close but Janus made the save. About three minutes later, it was Bartovič at the other end getting a good chance, but he couldn’t find the back of the net. Janus made the save of the game in the 35^th minute, using his incredible agility to get his left pad on a Tarasenko one timer. As the seconds ticked down, Kukumberg had a great chance to equalise, but his shot went wide of the mark.

HC SLOVAN began the third period on a 5 on 3 penalty kill after a four minute penalty against Mihalik for high sticking and another penalty on Kudrna. However, the team was able to stop SKA’s powerplay in its tracks once again. In the 45^th minute, with Federov in the penalty box, Vondrka and Sigalet combined to go close, but didn’t do enough to beat Bobrovsky. Janus was doing his best to give his team every chance to win the game, making another great save to deny Burdasov with five minutes to go. HC SLOVAN were simply unable to generate enough offensive zone time, and despite the best efforts of their forwards, were unable to really trouble Bobrovsky, meaning that Russian netminder picked up a shutout, and SKA took the victory 1:0.