BRATISLAVA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- HK Poprad's dominant performance against HKM Zvolen in the 29th round of the Slovak ice-hockey premiership Tipos Extraliga on Tuesday resulted in gaining a place in the standings.
Poprad opened the scoring in the first period and as the visitors from Zvolen failed to respond, Poprad opened the flood gates in the second period, scoring three more goals in a row, cruising to a comfortable 5-1 victory over the reigning champion who occupies the second spot in the standings.
Poprad goalie Marek Ciliak made 35 saves and was close to his third shutout of the season but conceded a goal during a second-period penalty kill.
The attractive match-up between the league leader and the third team of the standings was unfolding in the favor of HK Nitra but Slovan Bratislava succeeded in erasing both the 2-0 and 3-2 lead of the visitors, effectively turning the game around in the final stretch after Marcel Hascak's second goal of the night. The home team's Canadian forward Brant Harris set the final score to 5-3 with an empty-netter.
HC Kosice's veteran forward and captain Michal Chovan stole the spotlight on Tuesday, scoring the game-opener and also the deciding overtime goal of his team, spoiling Michalovce's effort of bringing an end to its losing streak. The visitors lost their eighth consecutive Tipos Extraliga match and fell two spots in the standings to sixth as a result.
Elsewhere, Spisska Nova Ves was able to stretch its winning streak to four, although the visitors from Presov took the lead twice. The Canadian forward Dante Salituro put the home team ahead for the first time 12 minutes into the last period and set the final score to 4-2 in favor of Spisska Nova Ves with an empty-net goal in the final second of regulation time, ending eighth-ranked Presov's three-game winning streak in the process.
The fixture between 10th-ranked HC '05 Banska Bystrica and last MHK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas turned into a scoring fest for the home team, crushing the visitors 8-1 in the end. Banska Bystrica took advantage of the visiting team's thin roster and put on a dominant display, scoring four in a row before Liptovsky Mikulas managed to get on the scoreboard for the first and final time. The home team's right winger Alex Vyhonsky had the best game of the season, scoring twice and assisting on one more goal. Enditem
