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BRATISLAVA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- In a shocking surprise in the 35th round of the Slovak ice-hockey premiership Tipos Extraliga, last-placed Liptovsky Mikulas, caught the ambitious Slovan Bratislava by surprise, grabbing only its fifth victory of the season.
Slovan Bratislava traveled to Liptovsky Mikulas with a much fuller roster as a couple of its important players returned after injuries, making the victory even more likely, but the home team got the jump on Slovan and took a 3-1 lead in the middle of the game, defending it vigorously thereafter and triumphing 5-4 in the end despite the visitors' efforts to tie the game up. Liptovsky Mikulas managed to snap its three-game losing streak in the process and defeat Slovan, its first in 12 years.
After winning its sixth game in a row, Trencin is now only two points away from the sixth place that guarantees a spot in the playoffs. Things were not looking great for Nitra as it was down 0-7 early in the last period, it managed to cut the deficit under the leadership of Marek Tvrdon who scored twice and kept Nitra from humiliating itself, losing 7-3 in the end.
Intent on keeping its leading position, HKM Zvolen took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but its traditional rival HC 05 Banska Bystrica from a town located only 20 kilometers away, managed to tie things up in the second. Juraj Mikus' two third-period goals got the home team back on the horse and secured the 4-2 triumph, putting an end to Banska Bystrica's four-game winning streak.
In the very east of the country, the team of Michalovce is only 3 points shy of the top 3 teams after defeating its local rival Kosice 3-2 on Friday, its third consecutive victory. Finnish forward Anti Erkinjuntti secured the win with a second-period hat-trick, scoring three times within 14 minutes. Kosice tried to rally in the final period but fell one goal short, suffering its fourth loss in a row.
In Miskolc, home of the only Hungarian team playing in the Slovak Tipos Extraliga, the visiting Nove Zamky was hoping to put an end to its five-game losing streak, taking a 2-1 lead early in the second period. But the home team had similar intentions after losing four in a row and rallied with two goals to achieve a much-needed 3-2 victory, granting its new coach a successful premiere.
Second-ranked Poprad kept in touch with the top team Zvolen thanks to a thrilling shootout victory over Detva that stretched its winning streak to four. The even match-up had to be decided by a penalty shootout. Only a single goal was scored in the shootout and its author being none other than the most productive player (48 points, 29 goals) of the league, Marcel Hascak, who managed to spoil the night for Detva's outstanding goalie Roman Petrik and his 54 saves. Enditem