BRATISLAVA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Slovan Bratislava Hockey Club lost its 14-round lead in Slovakia's Tipsport Liga to Kosice on Friday after succumbing to Poprad in the 32nd round.
On the other hand, Kosice's triumph over Michalovce marks its ninth straight victory in the Slovak premier ice hockey league. Poprad also has a ninth consecutive win.
The fans of fourth-ranked Poprad did not witness many goals during the 2-1 victory but the home team's second goal of the night in the last period's powerplay proved sufficient in keeping the league leader Bratislava at bay and stretch its winning streak to nine.
Kosice made the best use of Bratislava's stumble as the team defeated league newcomer Michalovce 2-1 in overtime and became the new leader with a one-point lead. The key player to watch was David Skokan, who tied the game in ninth-ranked Michalovce in the second period and scored the game-winner 12 seconds before the end of OT.
Elsewhere, fifth-placed Trencin also managed to stretch its winning streak to four, giving Miskolc, one of the two Hungarian clubs playing in the Slovak league, no chance in a lopsided 5-1 victory. Trencin scored five consecutive goals, two by the Canadian forward Brandon Alderson, allowing the sixth-ranked visitors to score only a goal of honor late in the game, and ending their three-game winning run.
In the central region of Slovakia, Zvolen was close to putting an end to its negative series of five defeats when the home team's Canadian forward Allan McPherson forced the game against Nitra into overtime. However, Samuel Bucek scored the golden goal to help Nitra clinch a 3-2 away win.
Eleventh-ranked Detva succeeded in what Zvolen failed to do - ending its four-game losing streak by defeating the ranking neighbor Budapest in a close 4-3 match. Detva's forward Peter Zuzin opened the score against the other Hungarian team in the league and provided the game-winning goal.
In the battle of two bottom-ranked teams, Nove Zamky defeated Liptovsky Mikulas 3-1 and built a five-point distance. Vaclav Stupka led his team to the first victory after three straight losses with two goals. The home team's horrible season continues with the eighth defeat in the last nine rounds.
