Victory After Penalty Shots!

Dinamo Riga – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 1:2sn (0:1, 1:0, 0:0, 0:0 - 0:1) 

Goals: 31. Miks Indrasis (Laurins Darzins) – 9. Tomáš Starosta (Marek Viedenský, Rok Tičar), deciding penalty shot: Lukáš Kašpar

Lineups:
Dinamo Riga: Sedláček – Galvins, Kundratek, Cibulskis, Seigo, Jerofejevs, Sotnieks – M. Redlihs (A), Sestito (A), Meija – Saulietis, Dzerins, Skvorcovs – Kulda, Berzins, Indrasis – Darzins (C), Bicevskis, Leino – Locans.
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Garnett – Starosta, Švarný, Barker, Novák, Mihalik, Sersen (A), Kozák – Bartovič, Nedorost, Kašpar – Jeglič, Tičar, Šťastný – Nagy (A), Surový (C), Miklík – Skalický, Viedenský, Lušňák

The Slovan second line combined well inside the first minute, but Andrej Šťastný didn't quite get hold of the pass from Jeglič. The hosts threatened on the break with Meija, but his effort hit the post. After a number of penalties, Slovan played a short powerplay in the 9th minute, and Starosta was on hand to convert after Andrej Šťastný and Marek Viedenský strung together passes - 0:1. Slovan was in the mood for it, and Nagy nearly had the puck in the net with a penalty signalled. In the closing minutes, chances fell to Bartovič, and to Tičar in combination with Šťastný, but Slovan went into the break with a one-goal advantage.

Slovan started the middle period actively; Jeglič had a good chance, but his strong shot clipped Sedláček's shoulder. Seconds later, Pavol Skalický bore down on the Riga net, but his strength escaped him at the finish. Riga spurned a huge chance in a powerplay in the 27th minute, but overcomplicated in front of goal and lost the puck. Barker then leaped back into the game from the sin bin, but his solo effort found the post. Another Riga powerplay ended with a goal for the home team, Indrasis providing the finish from a cross - 1:1. Play then swung from end to end, but neither goalie conceded, despite decent chances for Nagy, Lušňák, and Miklík. 

Both teams wanted to snatch a lead - and three points - in the third period. In the 46th minute, Garnett was made to work hard by the Riga first line, while Nedorost had a golden opportunity three minutes later, as Slovan were awarded a penalty shot, but he came away empty-handed. Novák picked out Viedenský superbly soon after, but his effort went agonisingly wide. Tomáš Surový also spurned a chance five minutes from time, so for the second time this season, our game against Riga went to overtime.

Few chances fell to either side in the extra five minutes, not even during a Slovan powerplay for the last 22 seconds. Thus the game had to be decided on penalty shots. Garnett let nothing get past him, while Jeglič and Kašpar both scored theirs, giving Slovan the two points.

Miloš Říha: We could have decided it in the first period. We had a string of chances, had a lot of powerplays, but we only scored once. Once we conceded, the game was more even, but we still had plenty more chances on goal, but Sedláček played well in goal for the home team, and they had chances to win too. Overall we're pleased to have brought the game to a winning conclusion, and we have two points.