The regular season is getting closer to the end, and each of the teams is still fighting for the best spot in the rankings before the playoffs start. But they need to score goals to achieve that, and we have seen them score 105 goals in the previous week. Sunday was one of the more interesting game days of the week with three games that went into overtime or Tuesday where we could see 39 goals cross the line.

 

WOW

HK Nitra got all the important points

Players of HK Nitra did the most to remain in the top six in the previous week. They have accumulated all nine points in the three games that they have played. On Tuesday, they welcomed the top seed – HKM Zvolen on their home ice. Zvolen scored the first goal of the game five minutes into it but by the time it ended, the score was 3-1 for HK Nitra. The second period offered us only two power plays, and the last goal of the game went in in the second half of the third period, and the score ended up being 3-2. Nitra faced Liptovský Mikuláš on Friday, and Nitra scored five goals in the second period, which was also the richest scoring-wise. Nitra scored the last goal of the game twelve minutes before the final horn, and it resulted in an 8-2 victory over Liptovský Mikuláš. The most important game of the week for Nitra was the one against HK Dukla Trenčín that took place on Sunday on their home ice. The Knights dominated in the first period and scored one goal. HK Nitra was not ready to give up just yet and took the scoring matter into their own hands. They scored three times and beat Trenčín 3-1. This victory and a successful week guaranteed the players from Nitra 5^th place.

 

HK Poprad is back on the top

The hockey players from Poprad caught a lucky wave last week, and they lost only one point in the three games they played. The winning streak began on Tuesday when they faced HC Nové Zámky, they played short-handed seven times but Nové Zámky used that to their advantage only once. Poprad scored one goal in each period and it was more than enough for a 3-1 victory and to take the three points back home. The next game that was scheduled was the one against DVTK Miskolc. Their performance when it came to scoring goals and taking penalties was the exact same as the one on Tuesday. They scored one goal in each period, and they also took seven penalties. Miskolc used two out of seven power plays and the score after the sixty minutes was 3-2. At the end of the week, Poprad welcomed HC Detva on their home ice. These teams met three times already during the season and each of the games ended with a difference of one goal. The score after the forty minutes was 2-0 for Detva, but Poprad took control of the scoring chances in the third period and the game was heading to overtime. Overtime lasted only twenty seconds because Poprad scored the game-winning goal. Poprad accumulated eight points which got them back to first place.

 

source: Projekt Timeout (Miroslava Maťašová)

 

WOE

Facing the rivals

HC Banská Bystica could have secured a spot for themselves in the top ten in the previous week, but they only managed to get a single point out of nine that were available. They are currently ten points ahead of DVTK Miskolc (currently 11^th in the league), and there are only four games before the regular season ends but last week was not their best one performance-wise. They faced HC Detva on Tuesday, and the score after the first twenty minutes was 3-0, after the second period it was already 5-0 and Detva managed to score the last goal of the game just a couple of minutes into the third period, and the score was 6-0. The rams had nine men advantage chances, managed to score only one power-play goal 5 minutes before the third period ended. The score resulted in a 6-2 loss for Banská Bystrica. The Rams faced HC Košice, who are still trying to get to the top six, on Friday. The Steelers scored three goals in the last period of the game and won it 4-1. The only point that the Rams have managed to get was from the game against their rival - HKM Zvolen that took place on Sunday. Each team scored two goals, and the game went into overtime. The Knights scored the game-winning goal, and the final score was 3-2.

 

One-point team

DVTK Polar Bears Miskolc wasted an opportunity to steal points from HC Banská Bystrica, and they ended up accumulating only one point that week. The teams that they had to play were not the easiest to play against. The first team they played was HK Dukla Michalovce and they outshot them by twenty-eight shots. The final score ended up being 5-1 and the Polar Bears returned home empty-handed. Miskolc welcomed HK Poprad on their home ice and two minutes before the final horn Poprad scored and the score was 3-1. The Polar Bears reacted a few seconds after and the final score was 3-2 – this goal was also the only goal that was scored at full strength. The last game that was scheduled that week was against HC Nové Zámky. The Polar Bears were disciplined, scored three goals, but their opponent scored three goals too and the game went into overtime. Nové Zámky proved that they were the better team and scored the game-winning goal less than two minutes into overtime, and the Polar Bears went home with the only point that they managed to get that week.

 

Some things did not change

Liptovský Mikuláš went through a month-long point-less drought in February and the first week of March has proven that the drought will continue when they faced teams that are currently in the top six. Liptovský Mikuláš welcomed HK Dukla Trenčín on their home ice, and even though the number of goals kept decreasing in each period which resulted in a 6-2 victory for Trenčín. An interesting detail about this game is the number of power plays that were given out – each team was only given one chance to play with a man advantage. The next game that the team from Liptov had to play was against HK Nitra. The goaltender from Liptovský Mikuláš faced forty-seven shots that Nitra sent his way, and eight of them ended up in the net and this resulted in an 8-2 victory for HK Nitra. Mikuláš’ best game was on Sunday against HC Slovan Bratislava. Bratislava won 4-1 and took three points from Mikuláš. The loss against Slovan is also Mikuláš’ tenth loss in a row.

 

The league has scheduled two game days in the upcoming week – one is taking place on Friday and the other one on Sunday. We will be able to see interesting duels when it comes to the teams in the top 6, but there are still teams that could potentially end up taking 6^th place from one of them.

 

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