Belarus and Slovakia open the Arosa Challenge 2013

The game started with a quick goal by Belarus player Sergej Demagin who caught Jan Laco on his glove hand. In the following minutes both teams tried to find their chemistry, which usually requires a few quick efforts.

The Slovaks had a hard time to get into the Belorussian Zone and once they found a loophole the opponents found a quick way to steal the puck. After 17 minutes played the Slovaks were awarded a minor penalty for tripping by Vladimir Denisov and had a handful of scoring chances but weren't able to score. Only seconds later Sergei Kostitsyn was sent to the cooler for roughing but the Slovaks weren't able to benefit for the rest of first period.

At the start of the second period Slovakia had a few good shots on goalie Vitali Koval but the scoreboard still showed a blank. It was then Belarus turn to test their powerplay after a minor penalty by Martin Macejko but again, no goal was scored with a one-man advantage. Finally after a few minutes both Teams seemed to have found their game, the passes on both sides were more precise and actual scoring chances were created but Belorus was able to keep their thin one-goal lead.

In the midst of the second period number 17, Jan Sykora was sent to the bench for interference. This time the powerplay worked a lot smoother for the belorus special team but again, no goal. The blue dressed slovaks now had a slight advantage, putting pressure on the red dressed belorussians defense. On a break away situation Jan Laco made a sensational save with 3 belorussians trying to put the puck behind the goal line. The score after the second period Belorus 1, Slovakia 0.

Beginning of the 3rd period and both Teams powered away and in the 3rd minute slovak Peter Galambos was sent to the box for hooking. The Belorussians then set up their power play and with Vladimir Denisov and  Nikita Komarov assisting Sergej Demagin for his second goal of the evening the Belorussians improved their lead to 2:0. It was then the turn of number 7 Vladimir Denisov to take place in the cool box (although the stadium itself was quite the freeze. Reminder, bring along warm sweater and hat!) Slovakia's only real chance came just seconds after the end of the roughing penalty when the puck missed the net only by centimeters and kissed the goal post instead!

15 minutes had passed and Tomas Starosta took a seat on the bench for 2 minutes (Interference), out of nothing the slovaks scored a shorthanded goal, a shot from Patrik Lusnak bumped off the ice and gave Vitali Koval no chance to keep the puck from bouncing across his leg pads.

The slovaks took their goalie off the ice for a one-man advantage but this came to late as Belorus seized the win and will play the winner of tonights game between Switzerland and Norway.

Best Player: Sergej Demagin

Tweets by @eurohockey