Second Period Decides Close Game

Jokerit Helsinki – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 2:1 (0:0, 2:0, 0:1)

Goals: 30. Koukal (Omark, Moses), 39. Mäki (Gunderson, Kapanen) – 49. Nagy (Sersen, Jeglič)

Lineups:
Jokerit: Karlsson (Helenius) – Ohtamaa, Jaakola, Korpikari, Todd, Gunderson, Lajunen – Mäki, Kapanen, Huhtala – Pöysti, J. Sallinen, Harju – Moses, Koukal, Omark – Ben-Amor, Hahl, Rita.
HC SLOVAN: Backlund (Janus) – Sersen, V. Mihálik, Baranka, J. Brejčák, Luža, Sigalet, Štajnoch – Bartovič, Surový, Vondrka – Ružička, Nedorost, Netík – Jeglič, Tičas, Nagy – Rachůnek, Bližňák, M. Lunter

Slovan started the encounter at the Hartwall Arena the more active of the sides; Tičar let in his Slovene strike partner perfectly, but Jeglič couldn't find the target under pressure. The home team gradually increased their occupation of the attacking zone, and in the 5th minute Harju got through on Backlund, but the Slovan goaltender made the block. A minute later, the puck evaded Sigalet's stick, and Rita broke away, but he could only hit the bar. Karlsson  was called on to make telling saves off Michal Sersen and a touch from Štefan Ružička. After Mihalik's speculative effort, Ladislav Nagy also had a chance, but the defender reacted well to deny him a finish.

Matikainen's charges began the second period with a powerplay, which then became 21 seconds of five-on-three after Ohtamaa's foul. However, Slovan failed to create a clear scoring chance; they shot several times, but only Sersen was on target. At the other end, Moses made his way through our defence, but Backlund covered the slapshot well. New boy Štefan Ružička let fly a good effort in another Slovan powerplay, but neither Vondrka nor Nedorost could knock in the rebound. Half-way through the match, Jokerit got into a quick breakaway, Omark played in Koukal, and he - not without a little luck - opened the scoring – 1:0. The hosts could have added a second immediately after, but Hahl fired way over. Towards the period end, Jokerit enjoyed a long five-on-three powerplay. They didn't score with the two-man advantage, but did when Slovan had four on the ice - Mäki deflected in Gunderson's long shot for 2:0. 

The home team was well-organised in the final period, and Slovan struggled to get near Karlsson; hopeful efforts from the blue line would not bring goals. Meanwhile, we had to be on guard against fast counters from Jokerit, who broke away several times. Slovan did give their 200-odd travelling fans something to cheer in the 49th minute, as Ladislav Nagy touched Sersen's shot into the roof of the net - 2:1. Václav Nedorost then spurned a great chance, unable to hit the target from up close. Slovan tried hard to find the elusive equaliser, but they came up against an excellent home defence, and the second goal never came, even after the goalie was pulled late on.

Petri Matikainen: We played well today against a strong Jokerit team. We were an equal match for our opponents throughout the game, we kept to our system and played carefully in defence the whole 60 minutes. Unfortunately we didn't manage to convert the positive points into a result that would earn us points in the table.