AWAY TRIP ENDS WITH DEFEAT IN UFA

Salavat Yulayev Ufa – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 4:2 (1:0, 1:1, 2:1)

Goals: 5. Mirnov (Koltsov), 40. Filatov, 53. Filatov, 60. Pihlström – 34. Šatan (Štajnoch, Mojžíš), 46. Hudáček (Šatan))

Lineups:
Salavat Yulayev: Volkov – Vishnevsky, Kulda, Schitov, Babchuk, Zubarev, Koltsov, Isangulov, Gurkin – Makarov, Filatov, Hartikainen – Mereskin, Záborský, Khlystov – Mirnov, Pihlström, Kaigorodov – Ankudinov, Zinovyev, Slepyshev
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Janus – Sigalet, Škoula, Trončinský, Mihálik, Mojžíš, Štajnoch, B. Mráz, Brejčák – Vondrka, Bližňák, Miklík – Bartovič, Ölvecký, J. Mikúš – Hudáček, Radivojevič, Šatan – T. Mikúš, Šťastný, Matoušek

Slovan lasted just four minutes in attempting to ward off the home team’s early onslaught. Koltsov met Mirnov’s pass and opened the scoring with a low shot – 1:0. Ufa kept up the pressure; when Koltsov broke through, we had Janus to thank as he read the play well. Slovan finally tested Volkov in the 9^th minute, an accurate pass from Mojžíš allowing Tomáš Mikúš to shoot. Mikúš again found himself in front of Volkov two minutes later, but the home defense hindered enough to stymie his shot. In the closing moments, Šatan missed by a matter of millimeters.

In the 22nd minute, Bartovič came at Volkov from the left, but the home goalie saved with the pads. Janus saved well off Koltsov, and was called on during the hosts’ third powerplay, making saves from Zinovyev and Kaigorod. Slovan’s first powerplay went perfectly, when Šatan bundled the puck home from a scrimmage in front of Volkov§s net - 1:1. Just 21 seconds from the siren Ufa broke away from the Slovan defense and Filatov restored the lead with a strong low shot – 2:1.

The hosts remained the more active team at the start of the third – Janus saved clear chances from Vishnevsky and Khlystov, while in the 43^rd minute Tomáš Mikúš let off his third shot at Volkov, who also had to be on guard to keep out Miklík’s effort. But in the 46^th, Šatan set up Hudáček, and his shot to the top right corner was unstoppable – 2:2. A big chance fell to Slovak national Záborský, but his effort was off target. Volkov had a major slice of luck in the 54^th, a shot from Bližňák just clipping his left shoulder. The following minute proved decisive, as Mihálik’s foul on Filatov resulted in a penalty shot, and the forward skated up to score with apparent ease – 3:2. Pihlström sealed the deal late on with a goal into the empty net – 4:2.

Rostislav Čada: We stayed in the game practically the whole way against a very strong, attacking, in form Ufa team, thanks to great discipline and effort, and enthusiasm from the whole team. Unfortunately it was us who basically decided the result for ourselves – a mistake in center ice that resulted in the penalty shot.