After all the games that we have seen in the previous week, it is really a shame that the fans are not allowed in the arenas. They would be really impressed with the performance of each team, because in the thirteen games that took place last week, the players have been able to score 83 times. And we have not only seen teams fight for the points that they need to get higher in the rankings but also the game where the first two teams faced each other and fought for the first spot.

 

WOW

Three victories and two players with seven points

Hockey players from Banská Bystrica have been on a scoring rampage – they outscored all their opponents and played three seven-goal games that week. Scoring seven goals and ending the game with a shutout is something that you do not see happening that often. The successful week started on Tuesday when they faced the team from Nitra. Seven minutes into the first period the rams scored the 3^rd goal of the game and with that the starting goaltender for HK Nitra was forced to spend the rest of the game on the bench. The following two periods ended with the scores 2-1 and 1-0, which resulted in a 6-1 victory over HK Nitra. On Friday they played offensively dangerous HK Dukla Trenčín. Dukla managed to score once in the first period of the game but then the Rams took matters into their own hands and scored four goals in the span of 8 minutes. Dukla Trenčín tried to tie the game before the time ran out but the game ended with a 3-4 victory for Banská Bystrica. The cherry on the top for the Rams was the game against Nitra on Sunday. The Rams won 7-0 and proved to everyone that even after 30 games that these two teams have played, they are staying undefeated. Their best players of the week were Jakub Sukeľ and Brian Ihnačák. Sukeľ accumulated 4 goals and 3 assists and Ihnačák scored one goal and helped with 6 more.

 

The team that loves to win

HK Poprad had two extremely different games ahead of them last week. Zvolen welcomed them on their ice on Friday, and they battled for the first place in the standings and on Sunday they had to travel to Liptovský Mikuláš – that is currently the last team in the league. After an uneventful first period of the game against the Knight, Poprad managed to score two goals in the span of three minutes in the second period. Fourteen seconds into the 3^rd period the Knights have scored their first goal of the game. It looked like the game was already done when Poprad scored 21 seconds before the final horn, but Zvolen responded with another goal 12 seconds later and the game ended with the 3-2 victory for HK Poprad. Two days later, Poprad faced Liptovský Mikuláš and was an expected favorite. Seven minutes into the first period the score was already 3-0 in favor of HK Poprad and Lipovský Mikuláš had to change the goaltenders. The score after the first period was 5-0 and the team from Liptov could only hope that it will not get worse. Liptovský Mikuláš scored a goal in the second period, but Poprad scored six more goals in the 3^rd which resulted in a 11-1 victory over Liptovský Mikuláš. The three stars of the week for Chamois were Peter Bjalončík, James Livingston and Michael Vandas. Peter Bjalončík was the most active one when it came to scoring goals – scoring 2 goals against Zvolen. James David Livingston and Michael Vandas both accumulated two goals and three assists.

source: Projekt Timeout (Patrik Ľupták)

 

Michalovce are back at it again

HK Dukla Michalovce continued with the winning trend from the previous week and added two more victories to their winning streak. The first victory took place on Friday in Liptovský Mikuláš. The foxes managed to score 3 quick goals and that resulted in the goaltending change for Liptovský Mikuláš, and the score after the first 20 minutes was 1-4 for the visiting team. Both teams scored only once in the second period, and Michalovce scored once more in the 3^rd period which resulted in the 6-2 victory for the visitors. The situation was quite different on Sunday when they welcomed HK Dukla Trenčín on their home ice. The score after sixty minutes was 1-1 and the game was heading into overtime in which the Knights have failed to score a goal while having a man advantage. Only one player from Dukla Trenčín was able to score in shootouts. Thanks to the three players that scored in shootouts, Michalovce were able to win 2-1 and ended the week with 14 points and a new spot in the top 4.

 

WOE

Slovan and the Rams x2

The team from Nitra has been haunted by the team from Banská Bystrica and Slovan in the previous week. HK Nitra was welcomed in Banská Bystrica on Tuesday, but that did not go according to their plans. The visitors were falling short after the second and third period, but since the Rams have scored 3 more goals in the first period, and that was six goals in total. The score after the third period was 6-1 for Banská Bystrica. Round 37 of the regular season offered HK Nitra home ice advantage against HC Slovan Bratislava. The fans could have been happier and more satisfied with the performance of their team, but it still was not enough to get the points. Power plays were the reason why HK Nitra lost 2-4. Nitra had eight man advantages and failed to control all of them. After the two losses Nitra had a chance to redeem themselves in a game against Banská Bystrica on Sunday. The goals in each period were 1-0, 2-0 and 4-0 and the team from Nitra already knew what that meant – another loss, but this time it was 7-0.

 

Two victories and two losses.

In the previous part of the series, we have included the team from Liptovský Mikuláš in the “WOW” category after they broke their scoring slump, which we could have seen on the ice too, but it is different this time. In the last two games they were scored upon 17 times and they had to change the goaltenders in the 7^th minute of the first period in both games – in which they were already losing 3-0. On Tuesday, the team from Liptov faced HK Dukla Michalovce, which resulted in Michalovce’s 2-6 victory. And then Sunday came along and Liptovský Mikuláš got destroyed by HK Poprad and the eleven goals that they have scored. The statistics of Liptovský Mikuláš in the previous week are two losses and score 3-17 in favor of their opponents.

 

The previous week has been extremely rich when it came to scoring chances and is being followed by a break from the highest-level hockey league. There is only one game scheduled for Friday and we will have to wait for more till the 16^th of February. 

 

author: Martin Lehotský, Miroslava Meličková | graphics: Kristína Prievalská