SHOOT-OUT DEFEAT IN KAZAN

Ak Bars Kazan – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 2:1 (SO) - (1:0, 0:1, 0:0, 0:0 - 1:0)

Goals: 10. Milovzorov (Petružálek), deciding penalty shot: Petružálek – 32. Šatan (Hudáček, Sigalet)

Lineups:
Ak Bars: Barulin  – Korneyev, Nikulin (C), Medvedev (A), Heshka, Belov, Jarullin, Panin – Lukoyanov, Tereshchenko (A), Petrov – Stapleton, Burmistrov, Varnakov – Golubev, Svitov, Obukhov – Milovzorov, Tkachev, Petružálek
HC SLOVAN: Janus  – Škoula, Štajnoch, Mihálik, Sigalet, J. Brejčák, Mojžíš, Luža, T. Mikúš – Hudáček, Radivojevič, Šatan – Bartovič (C), J. Mikúš, Miklík – Ölvecký (A), Bližňák (A), Kukumberg – Daňo, Šťastný, Bakoš

Janus, back in goal after a one-game break, had to be alert right from the off, saving dangerous shots from Varnakov and Milovzorov inside the opening three minutes. Bartovič was the first to test Barulin, in the 4^th minute. Milovzorov gave the sparsely-filled arena something to cheer in the 10^th, on hand to deflect Petružálek’s powerful strike into the net – 1:0. Bližňák could have punished a defensive error soon after, but shot straight at Barulin. Our first powerplay also bore no fruit, Slovan unable to keep the puck in the attacking zone for long. Janus was again in action towards the end of the period, saving excellently from Tkachev and Lukoyanov.

Hudáček came close to punishing Ak Bars for a lackadaisical defensive attitude behind the net in the second period, but the defenders just managed to steal the puck away at the last moment. Bartovič then let fly a decent effort from a three-on-two break, but the home defense cleaned up from the rebound. Slovan’s strong middle period performance finally brought about the equalizer in the 32^nd minute – Miro Šatan once again showed his hockey pedigree, facing Barulin, selling him the feint and slotting into the empty net – 1:1. The closing minutes belonged to the home team, but Svitov made a hash of his approach on goal, then Burmistrov failed to latch onto a bouncing puck.

The home side continued to apply pressure in the third period, but failed to make their powerplay count, major chances for Obukhov and Tkachev going begging. Another powerplay soon after was equally toothless, leading to cat whistles from the home fans. In the following passage of play, both teams defended their blue line solidly, affording the goaltenders a brief respite. Perhaps this helped Janus to make a superb reaction save with the right pad off Svitov in the 51^st minute. Six minutes from the end, Juraj Mikúš might have settled matters after Šatan’s inch-perfect pass, but he shot into Barulin’s chest. Slovan then had forty seconds of five-on-three at the end, but again came up empty-handed, and the game moved into overtime.

In overtime, Slovan failed to find the net in a further powerplay, so the game went on to a shoot-out. Only Bartovič found the target for Slovan, while Petružálek beat Janus twice in succession to give Ak Bars the extra point.

Rostislav Čada: We played a good game today, especially in defense. We kept our opponent’s chances to a minimum, and we also defended well when shorthanded. In the third period we had a big opportunity; we came closer to winning. In the end Petružálek found some shooting form to win the shootout.