Actors of Friday’s match of the 11th round of the extra league between Košice and Slovan Bratislava talked about the hockey holiday. The sold-out Steel arena saw a goal drama, many expulsions, a fist exchange and also the first victory of Slovan over the “steelers” after eight losses. The coaches of both teams stressed the importance of special teams, which they believe decided the outcome.
Slovak hockey “El classico” attracted 8347 spectators, more could not be accommodated in the renovated Steel arena. Sixteen minor penalties, Patrik Lamper’s fist exchange with Sen Acolats, but also the change of teams in the lead contributed to Slovan’s 4:3 victory after extra time. Richard Pánik scored the winning goal.
“At the end of regular time, we were leading 3:2, it’s a shame, we could have kept it, but we got a goal. Finally, we’re happy to get two points.” commented the attacker, who arranged the first triumph of Slovan in Košice since February 3, 2023.
Since then, Slovan has lost to this opponent in all eight matches, including four in the quarter-finals of last year’s play-off. Striker Martin Bakoš was also on the scoresheet on Friday, opening the scoring in the 17th minute during a power play.
“It’s hard to win in Košice. It was a see-saw game, we finally scored more goals in power-ups. I think the spectators must have liked this match, although the Košice fans were not satisfied at the end. This hall deserves this kind of hockey.” admitted Bakoš, and coach of the guests Peter Oremus also spoke about the used power-ups.
According to the statistics, only Bakoš and Pánik scored in them, but Samuel Takač’s accurate strikes to make it 2:2 in the 50th minute and Haralds Egle’s to 2:3 in the 59th resulted from overpowering pressure and fell shortly after the return of the suspended players.
“I’m glad that we played an excellent match during the five-on-five game. It was important to defend the weaknesses we got ourselves into.” stated Oremus.
Slovan’s captain made several changes in the lineup after Wednesday’s 1:5 loss in Michalovci. They also resulted from the punishment for forward Liam Pecarar, who opened the scoring on the ice of Dukla, but after the attack on Sebastian Jaseček, he was banned from activity for two games by the Disciplinary Commission. In total, he received 56 penalty minutes in the aforementioned match.
“I don’t want to go back to the match in Michalovce. Some of the players who are supposed to decide the matches did not play today and I hope that they will come to their senses and when they return to the lineup, they will be an asset. We need them on the ice, not in the stands.” commented Oremus, who will already have forward Austin Ortega, the club’s latest player acquisition, at his disposal before Sunday’s game on the Nové Zámkov ice.
Košice forward Tomáš Mikúš scored his sixth goal of the season against Slovan, thus equaling Šimon Petráš in the team statistics. In the 22nd minute, he tied the game at 1:1, and Josh Teves followed up his accurate shot in the second period.
The guests turned the score to 2:3 in the third part, but Joona Jääskeläinen’s goal during the home team’s game without a goalkeeper sent the duel to overtime. “It looked like we could pull it off in full time. We had what it took to get the three points. Thank God we managed to equalize at the end.” commented Mikúš, who was sorry that the home players did not please the filled Steel Arena with a victory.
The hockey players of HC Slovan Bratislava won on the ice of HC Košice 4:3 after extra time in Friday’s match of the 11th round of the Tipos extraliga. Their triumph was decided by Richard Pánik, who used a power play in overtime.
“We wanted to offer them attractive hockey and also a victory so that they could enjoy it together with us. We regret this loss all the more because people came in such large numbers. I think that today was a hockey holiday.” stated Mikúš after the Košice lost for the first time in the season in front of their own spectators.
In the table with 22 points, they are currently in 5th place, but in the crowded first half they lose only four points to the leader Spišská Nová Ves. The Slavs jumped to the interim 3rd place with a gain of 24 points.
Košice didn’t use a single power play against Slovan, and they even had a two-minute numerical advantage of two players in the first period at 0:0. “With the quality we have, we have to score a goal on a five-on-three power play. Finally, we are also happy for a point.” commented attacker Marek Bartánus.
Košice’s coach Dan Ceman also admitted after the match that the match with Slovan was mainly about special formations, i.e. those that the coaches set up for power play and weakness: “We basically didn’t see which team was better in five-on-five today. There were too many shutouts. The visitors’ special teams were better than ours today.”
Since the beginning of the season, the team from Košice has had eight overtimes with two players, in which they played a total of 8:58 minutes, but did not score a goal in them. Overall, in the use of numerous advantages, they are currently in 6th place, when they scored 11 goals out of 49 power-ups (22.45 percent success rate).
Striker Olivier Archambault, the most productive player of the regular season last season, should help with their use. After that, he headed to Pilsen, but he ended up in the Czech extra league team after only 9 matches (1+4 record). Košice immediately reached out to him:
“He is an excellent power play player. We have to think carefully about how to use him in it as best as possible. I expect Olivier to be our big offensive weapon. We are really happy to have such a top offensive player in the lineup.” said Ceman.
