Last game in Siberia ends in a tight defeat

Metallurg Novokuznetsk – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 3:2 (1:1, 1:1, 1:0)

Goals: 13. Ježov (Lazarev), 34. Kagarlitsky (Bumagin, Robitaille), 44. Kagarlitsky (Megalinskij, Bumagin) - 9. Dravecký (Višňovský), 31. Sekera (Bližňák)

Shots: 23:31 Penalties: 5:6 Powerplay goals: 1:2 Shorthanded goals: 0:0 Officials: Bondar, Ravodin – Pavlov, Chubykin

Rosters:

Metallurg Novokuznetsk: Lazušin – Megalinskij, Metljuk, Romanov, Ježov, Sopel, Arzamascev, Turukin, Grišin - Kagarlickij, Robitaille, Bumagin – Lazarev, Mereskin (C), Mitrjakov – Černych, Vyglazov, Slepyšev – Simon, Islamov, Nazarov
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus – Višňovský, Sigalet, Štajnoch, Sekera, Tabaček, Sersen - Hudáček, Bližňák, Bartovič – Miklík, Lipiansky, Vondrka - Kukumberg, Kytnár, Dravecký – Daňo, Ölvecký, Mikúš

After a valuable 2:1 victory in Novosibirsk, HC SLOVAN Bratislava came into Sunday’s game with another tough task to face. In the second minute, Roman Kukumberg went close to giving the Slovak side a perfect start, but he was denied by Lazushin. Metallurg had the first powerplay of the game, but Janus was able to make a number of saves. However, in the 9^th minute, it was HC SLOVAN’s powerplay which would get the momentum swinging in their direction, as Višňovský found Vladimir Dravecky with a pinpoint pass, and the forward fired home to give the away side a 1:0 lead. However, their lead lasted all of 4 minutes, as Yezhov was able to shoot and score after a defensive mistake.

The second period was a closely fought encounter, with both teams having spells of ill-discipline. On the powerplay in the 31^st minute, Mario Bližňák set up Andrej Sekera, whose rocket of a shot buried in the back of the net to give HC SLOVAN another lead. However, this time it only took three minutes for Metallurg to level the score, as Kagarlitsky beat Janus to make the score 2:2. Late in the period, HC SLOVAN had a golden chance to score their third with a 3 on 1 chance, but Lazushin was able to keep the puck out.

In the third minute of the third period, the home side took the lead for the first time in the game, as Kagarlitsky was able to score for the second time in the game. HC SLOVAN were now chasing the game, and two minutes later had a great chance to level the score after good play by Vondrka and Miklik, but the puck just wouldn’t go in. They combined again with six minutes to go, but Miklik’s shot was saved by Lazushin. One minute before the end of the game, HC SLOVAN pulled Janus for the extra attacker, but the score remained at 3:2 to Metallurg, and HC SLOVAN picked up their second loss of their road trip so far.

Immediately after the game, the team boarded a flight to Moscow, where CSKA awaits on Tuesday at 16:30 (CET).