Sochi Extends Winning Streak

HC Sochi – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 4:1 (0:0, 4:0, 0:1)

Goals: 21. A. Kostitsyn (Koledov, Krikunov), 25. Shishkanov (Shcherbina), 29. Lyuduchin (Petersson, Lapenkov), 33. Lyuduchin (Krutov, Shchitov) – 51. Ružička

Lineups:
HK Soči: Pöpperle – Shchitov (C), Koledov, Whitney, A. Petrov, Derlyuk, Wilson, Jarvinen, Morozov – Krikunov, Ignatushkin, A. Kostitsyn – Lyuduchin, Petersson, Lapenkov – Wärn, Krutov, Emmerton – Shcherbina, Kriukov, Shishkanov
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus – Štajnoch, Sigalet, Brejčák, Baranka, Sersen (A), Starosta, Luža – Surový, Murley, Bartovič (C) – Nagy (A), Nedorost, Ružička – Netík, Tičar, Jeglič – Šťastný, Bližňák, Ölvecký

An early foul by Starostu saw Slovan shorthanded early. They played the penalty kill superbly, and nearly scored in their own powerplay soon after - Sersen's cross pass found Tičar, but his finish hit the post. A speculative effort Murley and a shot from Ružička both led to rucks in front of Pöpperle, but neither saw the puck go over the line. The home side then tested Janus in their second powerplay, Shchitov twice letting fly from the blue line, Štajnoch also had a clear chance to score at this time, but his effort found the goaltender in his way. Slovan picked up the pace in the 8th minute, and their fourth line carved out real chances, but neither Bližňák nor Ölvecký could make them count.

The second period started well for the hosts, as their first line occupied the Slovan zone, and the unmarked Kostitsyn found time to fire into the top corner from between the circles - 1:0. Just four minutes later, Shishkanov received the puck in front of goal, and his low shot slipped between the goalie's pads - 2:0. Štefan Ružička tried his hand for Slovan, while the home side added yet more pressure with a third goal, Lyuduchin firing home from up close - 3:0. The same man then added his second, slotting into an empty net after fine work by the third line – 4:0. 

The opening stages of the final period looked better for Slovan, as our players went about trying to improve the scoreline. But efforts from Netík and Starosta both met with the in-form Pöpperle. In the 46th minute, Kostitsyn got through, but this time it was Janus's turn to make the save at the left post. The Slovan fourth line again buzzed with activity, peppering the Sochi goaltender with an array of shots, including a strong effort from Nedorost, but none got past him. Štefan Ružička finally crowned Slovan's fine passage of play, beating Pöpperle with a low shot - 4:1. In the 55th minute Tičar got through alone, but the home goalie read him well and saved with the mitt. The closing stages were marked by a few scuffles, but the score did not change.

Petri Matikainen: We played a very good first period today, we created a number of chances in it, and barely allowed the hosts anything. It's just a pity we didn't manage to score. The second period was bad, we went to sleep, stopped skating, lost the individual battles and conceded four goals. In the third period we tried to get back in the game, we were active, but it's harder to play with that scoreline. I think if we'd played properly the whole 60 minutes, we'd have taken some points from Sochi.