MOL Liga Playoff Recap: First Two Semifinal Games in the Books

The first two games of the 2012-2013 MOL Liga playoffs were on tap Saturday and Sunday.  Here is a recap of the action.

DAB Docler (1) vs. Miskolc Jegesmedvek (2)

In the first game, DAB Docler took control early with four goals in the first 12 minutes of play.  After resting their top players for the last three weeks of the season, the Acelbikak showed no rust as Krisztian Budai was chased out of the net for David Gyenes--both keepers shared starting responsibilities throughout the regular season.  Martin Saluga would score twice for Miskolc, but DAB Docler would put in three more on Gyenes to take the first game 7-2.  Akos Kiss scored a hat trick for DAB and Nikandrosz Galanisz had four assists in leading their team to a definitive win.

In the second game, Gyenes would get the start over the struggling Budai, and it paid off for Miskolc as they won 4-2.  Justin Smith scored first, with the first of his two goals of the game to get Miskolc in front early.  After Vladimir Dubek made it 2-0 for Miskolc at the end of the first period, DAB Docler’s high-powered offense struck back, with Zsolt Azari and David Szappanos tying it up with two goals two minutes apart.  After only scoring seven points during the regular season, Justin Smith got the go ahead goal at the nine minute mark of the second period.  Miskolc would hold on to the lead, stealing a game away from the top seed who boldly selected the Jegesmedvek as their first round opponent under a new league rule this season.

HSC Csikszereda (3) vs. HC Nove Zamky (4)

Nove Zamky started strong in the first game from Romania, looking to beat the team that only finished one point better than them in the regular season standings.  Rastislav Barcak and Konstantin Mikhailov put Nove Zamky up 2-0 early in the second period.  It took four unanswered goals starting late in the second period to give Csikszereda the 5-3 win, ending with Vaclav Novak’s empty netter.  Nove Zamky held the lead or was tied with 15 minutes of play left, but could not hang on long enough to steal an important road win.

The Slovak side would not have similar luck in keeping the game close on Sunday, as Csikszereda and Stanislav Kozuch would get a shutout victory with a 7-0 win.  Lubomir Hurtaj scored the first two of his three goals in the first period and Novak added another, leading to Karol Krizan being benched and Jakub Zima getting a chance to allow for a Nove Zamky comeback.  He would take on four more goals, leaving the fourth seed in a position where they will have to win three straight if they are going to make it to the next round.

Semifinal Round

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