BRATISLAVA, November 16 (Xinhua) -- The 21st round of the Slovak premier hockey league Tipsport Liga produced the most even match-ups, with three out of six games ending in a tie in regulation time on Friday.
Slovan Bratislava Hockey Club produced another solid offensive performance and strengthened its position on the top of the rankings.
Earlier in the week, the team from the capital of Slovakia pre-played their 50th-round match against Nove Zamky that resulted in another win, stretching their lead even more.
In a battle of two capital cities, Bratislava traveled to Hungary to meet the team from Budapest, one of the two foreign clubs playing in the Slovak league.
Budapest’s performance this season is lacking, to say the least, and Bratislava served it the 12th defeat, dominating 5-1. The visiting Tomas Zigo led the scoring with two goals and one assist, helping Bratislava win its eight in a row.
Second-ranked Banska Bystrica saw their feeble one-goal lead in Trencin dwindle in the last period; the home team’s Czech-born Josef Mikyska tied the game up and also scored the golden goal in overtime. The 2-1 victory helps Trencin stay in the top half of the rankings.
The eastern derby between Michalovce and Kosice had to be decided in a shootout. Michal Chovan scored the game-winner for Kosice, stretching the eight-time champions’ current winning streak to four.
The second shootout of the night was witnessed by the fans in Miskolc, the other Hungarian team in the league. After scoring a goal in regulation, Detva's attacker Jan Sykora converted on three penalty shots in the final stage to secure a much-needed 3-2 victory for Detva, ending its three-game losing streak.
Liptovsky Mikulas is not the worst team of the league anymore. The squad from the central region of Slovakia built up a solid three-goal lead that proved to be satisfactory. The home team of Poprad tried to rally in the last period but failed to tie the game, losing 2-3 in the end. The visitors moved up one spot to the penultimate position in the rankings.
The bottom of the league now belongs to Nove Zamky. The team from the south of the country slipped to the last position after losing in Zvolen 1-3. Canadian attacker Brock Trotter scored twice for the home team and even assisted on the third goal.
Earlier this week, Nove Zamky also lost to Bratislava in a pre-played match from the 50th round. The visitors managed to open the score but Bratislava turned the game around, putting two goals in succession into their opponents' net to close the match at 2-1.
All the matches on Friday started with a minute of silence dedicated to the 12 victims of a major traffic accident that occurred on Wednesday near Nitra. Twelve people have died when a heavy truck crashed into a bus full of people. The government of Slovakia declared Friday a national day of mourning and all the hockey players wore a black band on their jerseys to express their condolences.
