Spartak punishes Slovan errors

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Spartak Moscow 2:5 (0:1, 0:0, 2:4) 

Goals: 47. Surový, 56. L. Nagy (Švarný, Jeglič) - 1. Klimenko, 45. Levitsky (Ipatov), 47. Genoway (Bodrov), 54. Genoway (Klimenko), 58. Radil (Shafigulin). Penalties: 6:6 (2 min.). Powerplay & Shorthanded Goals: 0:0. Officials: Belyayev (RUS), Odins (LAT) - Gordenko, Tomilov (RUS). Attendance: 9,329.

Lineups: 
HC SLOVAN: Garnett - F. Novák, Barker, Starosta, Švarný, Sersen, V. Mihálik, L. Kozák - Kašpar, V. Nedorost, L. Nagy - Jeglič, Tičar, A. Šťastný - Surový, Viedenský, Bartovič - Lušňák, Protaseňa, Skalický 
Spartak Moskva: Engren - Gilroy, Korobov, Genoway, Yermakov, Baldayev, Tatalin, Ablayev, Toluzakov - Radil, Shafigulin, Leshchenko - Potapov, Bodrov, Klimenko - Ipatov, Voronin, Levitsky - I. Radulov, Vasiliev, A. Krutov 

Slovan barely had time to draw breath before they found themselves chasing the game a goal down. Within the first minute, Garnett misread a rebound and elected to come out, only succeeding in pushing the puck weakly to Klimenko, who managefd to find the net from a tight angle - 0:1. The Sky Blues appeared shell-shocked, and a number of misunderstandings followed. The game eventually got going half-way through the period, but Starosta went to the sin bin, as did Barker, forcing Slovan to defend a double powerplay. Spartak caused trouble in front of Garnett, but the goalie restored some order to his territory; Leshchenko and Shafigulin were kept at bay. The home team had a chance of their own while shorthanded, when Nagy got away from the defence, but he couldn't find the target. Leshchenko nearly added a second for Spartak late on, but Garnett made up for his early hesitation with a decisive intervention.

Slovan pushed more for an opening in the second period, but found themselves unable to forge a way through. In the 26th minute, Slovan made a fast counter while shorthanded, but Nedorost was unable to handle Kašpar's pass. As time passed, things started to heat up in the Spartak defensive zone. Engren was put under pressure especially in the final three minutes. First Nedorost had a foray on goal, but his switch to the backhand didn't come off, then Štastný was unsuccessful on the rebound after a shot from Bartovič.

In the final period it was Spartak who made much from very little. The visitors were more dangerous than Slovan in attack, and added two fine goals to cement their lead. Leshchenko failed to punish the defence in the 44th, but Levitsky did a minute later, latching onto Ipatov's brilliant pass from the corner - 0:2. In the 47th, another fine move made it three - Bodrov found Genoway from behind the net, and the latter converted - 0:3. Slovan were by now mean broken, and struck back just nine seconds later. Baldayev lost the puck behind his net, and Surový's attempt from the left beat Engren, as confirmed by the video referee - 1:3. Alas, Genoway restored the three-goal advantage with a fine solo effort - 1:4. Late in the day, Nagy got a telling touch on Švarný's long-range effort - 2:5, but Slovan could do no more. Indeed, Radil added one more for the visitors with a nice shot that evaded Garnett's mitt - 2:5.