Nagy secures victorious start to season!

Goals: 7. Nagy (Nedorost), 11. Nagy (Bartovič), 29. Sersen (Jeglič), 57. Hudáček (Netík, Surový), 58. Nagy (Vondrka) - 27. Anderson (Haydar), 41. St. Pierre (Pelletier, Carle)
Officials: Belov, Rogachyov - Zakharenkov, Sadovnikov
Penalties: 12:14 (2 min.), plus Hudáček (Slovan) - 10 min (unsportsmanlike conduct). Powerplay goals: 3:1, Shorthanded: 1:0. Attendance: 10,055 (sold out).

Lineups:
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Backlund - Sersen, Baranka, Starosta, Sigalet, Brejčák, Mihálik - Nagy, Nedorost, Vondrka - Netík, Surový, Hudáček - Murley, Tičar, Bartovič - Jeglič, White, Ölvecký
Medveščak Zagreb: Dekanich - Flood, Morrisonn, Carle, Martinovic, Hutchinson, Popovic - Glumac, Murray, Bjorkstrand - Thomas, St. Pierre, Pelletier - Haydar, Krog, Anderson - Stewart, Rodman, Hedden 

Right from the opening face-off, the sell-out Slovnaft arena crowd raised their voices to urge their beloved team on, and Slovan was certainly the more active team from the start. When Vondrka charged Carle behind the visitors’ goal in the 4th minute, it took some effort before the Canadian could get up from the ice. But it was Nagy who made his mark on the game early. After firing wide while shorthanded in the 6th, he raised his arms aloft in a powerplay just a minute later. Behind the goal, the impressive Nedorost stole the puck off the straying goaltender, and Nagy had no trouble tucking into the empty net – 1:0. The experienced number 27 then proceeded to produce one eye-catching moment after another. During a penalty kill in the 11th, he sent the crowd wild again, knocking the puck between the two defenders and calmly beating Dekanich – 2:0. At this point, the visitors finally came to life. In the 13th, Rodman and St. Pierre found themselves alone in front of the Slovan net, but they overcooked it. Stewart soon found himself with a chance from between the circles, but he shot straight at Backlund.

In the second period, Medveščak moved things up a notch, making the game a more even contest. In the 22nd minute, Pelletier shot into Backlund’s pads, while Jeglič twice had powerplay chances at the other end, but failed to get hold of the puck. The hosts deservedly reduced the deficit in the 27th, Haydar setting up Anderson, whose first-time shot found the target - 2:1. Slovan’s response was not long in coming, however. In a powerplay two minutes later, Sersen shot through everything from the blue line to restore the two-goal advantage – 3:1. But Medveščak didn’t give it up; Backlund’s pads were again put to use, keeping out Pelletier in the 33rd. The Swedish goalie really showed his worth soon after, first saving a shot from Popovic, then sweeping across the goalmouth to keep out Thomas’s follow up. At the end of the middle period, Slovan had two minutes of 5 on 3, but wasted the opportunity, playing the puck too often to Nagy.

Retribution soon came. At the start of the final period, Čada’s charges lost their balance in a penalty kill, allowing the unmarked St. Pierre to seize on Pelletier’s pass – 3:2. The visitors soon had a huge chance to equalise, but failed to capitalise on 102 seconds of 5 on 3, Stewart and Thomas wasting time with speculative efforts. Hudáček tried his hand on a sole effort in the 51st minute, but he came away empty-handed, as did Glumac two minutes later, breaking away down the wing, but unable to direct the puck between Backlund’s pad and the left post. The decisive strike came three minutes from the end – Netík’s diagonal pass found Hudáček, who picked his spot in the Zagreb net – 4:2. Nagy was left to have the final word, slotting into the empty net for his hat-trick, and for a final score of 5:2.

Rostislav Čada: “We’re pleased to have succeeded in our first home game. As we’ve talked about, the current style of ice hockey refereeing is a lot stricter. It’s a promising sign for future games that we managed to score when shorthanded, as well as in powerplays. But we’re disappointed not to have scored when we had 5 on 3.”