BRATISLAVA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Slovak ice hockey premiership Tipos Extraliga kicked off its 30th season on Friday, with defending champion HC Slovan Bratislava entering on a high note.
Despite a slow start, Bratislava had no trouble beating HK Poprad 4-2. Trailing 3-0, Poprad pulled a goal back in the final period before Marcel Hascak's second goal of the night found the empty net to make it 4-1.
The home side managed to get on the board again with 10 seconds remaining, but only to ease the defeat a little bit.
"The first goal was key. It gave us a much-needed confidence boost. However, we produced unnecessary fouls towards the end which could have cost us the game if we did not have a large cushion," Bratislava's new coach Jan Pardavy said.
Last season's other finalist HK Nitra, however, got schooled by one of the worst teams of the previous season HC Nove Zamky, losing 5-1 on home ice.
Having scored twice in the first period, the visitors stretched the lead to 3-1 in the final outing and added two empty-netters thanks to American forward Austin Farley's solid performance with two goals and an assist.
Elsewhere on Friday, the fans in Banska Bystrica were treated to a beautiful scoring fest, witnessing a total of 11 goals in the clash against HK Spisska Nova Ves. ■
