TORPEDO COMES OUT ON TOP IN BRATISLAVA

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod 0:3 (0:1, 0:2, 0:0)

Goals: 18. Wolski (Brent), 36. Krasnoslobodtsev (Schastlivy), 37. Wolski (V. Denisov, Grigoriev). Penalties: 3:6 (2 min.). Powerplays & Shorthanded: 0:0. Officials: Soin, Cherenkov - S. Morozov, Putilin. Attendance: 10,055

Lineups:

HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus - Sersen, Škoula, V. Mihálik, Kutlák, Sigalet, Štajnoch - Miklík, Bližňák, Vondrka - Kukumberg, J. Mikúš, Bartovič - Netík, Ölvecký, L. Hudáček - M. Daňo, Kolena, Bakoš - from 25 min. R. Mráz

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod: Gelashvili - Hietanen, Valentenko, Lukin, Alexander Makarov, Grigoriev, V. Denisov, Belohvostikov - V. Kulyomin, Galuzin, A. Potapov - Kulakov, Brent, Wolski - M. Potapov, Immonen, Salminen - Krasnoslobodtsev, Schastlivy, Zharkov

Slovan did make a positive start to the first home game of the new KHL season. They could have scored as early as the 3^rd minute, Bližňák breaking through into the attacking zone on the right and setting up Vondrka, but the latter’s shot was stopped by goaltender Gelashvili. Salminen threatened at the other end during a powerplay, but Janus was untroubled by his shot. Slovan also had a chance in theirown powerplay, but Netík went past the puck then could only find the netminder when he did get a shot away. Wojtek Wolski opened the scoring for the visitors in the 18^th minute – from behind the goal, Brent found the Pole open and the forward made no mistake 0:1.

Slovan’s finishing lacked bite, highlighted by Sersen’s 26^th minute shot from the blue line, and Bakoš’s shot within Gelashvili’s grasp four minutes later. M. Daňo, Vondrka and Štajnoch all followed suit soon after, and by this time Slovan had also lost first-line center Bližňák to injury. Towards the end of the second period, Torpedo damage came in the form of two goals in a minute. First Vadim Krasnoslobodtsev beat the powerless Janus with a backhand, then just 65 seconds later Wolski benefited from both a lucky rebound and the home team‘s hesitation in defense – 0:3.

The two goals didn’t do anything to help Slovan out of their slump, as Čada’s charges struggled vainly to find an opening. In the 51^st minute, Ölvecký got away from the Novgorod defense, Lukin fouled, and the hosts had a penalty shot. Alas, Ölvecký struck the post and the score remained 0:3 until the end.

Rostislav Čada (Slovan coach): “We put a lot of effort in today, we really wanted to succeed. Unfortunately we just weren’t successful in defense. Our opponents were aggressive, so they scored three goals. Add to that our ineffective powerplays and the missed penalty shot, and we lost three to nothing.”