Excellent Effort Secures Victory

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

Goals: 34. Nagy (Kašpar)

Lineups:
Ak Bars: Garipov  – Rylov, Zakharchuk, Korneyev, Dyaloga, Musin, Belov – Arkhipov, Tkachov, Obukhov – Lukoyanov, Svitov (C), Mirnov – Möller, Sjögren, Azevedo – Glukhov, Malykhin, Varnakov
HC SLOVAN: Brust – Barker, Novák, Starosta, Švarný, Mihalik, Sersen (A), Luža – Kašpar, Nedorost, Nagy (A) – Miklík, Surový (C), Bartovič – Jeglič, Tičar, Šťastný – Skalický, Viedenský, Lušňák

The opening ten minutes were played out in calm fashion, without any major openings. The Sky Blues did have a powerplay, resulting from Zacharchuk's heavy challenge on Jeglič, but only our third line made it into the attacking zone, and Garipov wasn't tested. Later in the period, chances fell to both sides. First Jeglič shot at the goalie after Šťastný's pass, then the Kazan backs kept out Tičar in the scrummage that followed. The hosts then had their chances after Sersen's foul, Möller coming closest, but unable to beat Brust.

Slovan was the more active team early in the middle period, and Lušňák won the puck for Skalický in the 32nd minute, but his shot struck the post. The visitors opened the scoring two minutes later, the first line combining well, as Lukáš Kašpar picked out Ladislav Nagy, and the latter found the top corner - 0:1. The remainder of the period was mostly played out on centre ice, with Kazan unable to mount any serious pressure. 

Patrik Luža committed a foul right at the start of the final period, but Slovan's precise defensive play kept the home team at bay. They tried their hand again in a second powerplay, but Tomáš Surový sat out the full two minutes. Kazan continued to search for the elusive opening, but almost every sortie over the blue line ended with Slovan clearing the puck up to Garipov. Barry Brust had to pull off an outstanding save right in the last minute, thus ensuring the Sky Blues took a valuable scalp from their third away trip.

Miloš Říha: The team worked exceptionally from start to finish. It was one of our best games so far this season; we deserved to win today. The team is looking forward to getting home, to playing in front of our own fans again. I think we've provided a clear invitation for the next four games at home, and I certainly believe large numbers of fans will come to watch!