No Joke(r)s on Brust: Slovan takes down Helsinki

Czech forwards take the initiative for Slovan

With both teams coming off consecutive wins, neither team wanted to take any unnecessary risks in the initial frame. The first squad to make a mistake were the guests from Finland, who between Christmas and New Year participated in the traditional Spengler Cup in Davos. Czech winger Lukas Kaspar escaped for a shorthander opportunity, but he could not put the puck past Helsinki’s Henrik Karlsson. Slovan, without local heroes Ladislav Nagy and Lubomir Visnovsky in the line-up, kept trying. The Eagles were rewarded in the 7^th minute, as Vaclav Nedorost scored the opener on an Kaspar’s excellent feed from behind the net.

The Jokers on their man advantage pushed the home team into their zone for almost two minutes, but goaltender Berry Brust robbed Peter Regin, on a great cross-crease pass by Finish legend Niko Kapanen, of a sure goal.

In the second period Helsinki was looking for the equalizer and Toppi Jakola found it in the 32^nd minute. The shot of the Finnish defenceman squeezed through the body of Brust and somehow found its way behind the goal line.

After the game, head coach Erkka Westerlund would describe this period as his team’s best. However, the Nordics were still trailing after the 40-minute mark, as Rok Ticar scored the 2-1 goal in the 35^th minute. Michal Sersen shot from the point, the puck bounced off the boards and the Slovenian beat the surprised Karlsson. Ticar’s country mate Jica Jeglic even had the chance for Slovan’s third goal, but only found iron alone in front of the Scandinavian goalie.

Jokers strike back

In the 45^th minute Danish forward Peter Regin displayed his amazing playmaking skills, giving a perfect pass to Daine Todd. The Canadian hammered the puck under the bar and the game was even again.

The tie would though only hold for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Vaclav Nedorost brought the joy back to the 10,055 fans in the sold out Zimny Stadion with his personal second marker of the game, beating Karlsson with a low slap shot and regaining the one-goal-lead.

With five minutes to go Bratislava-captain Tomas Surovy was given a double minor for high sticking. Jokerit’s power play units, featuring some of the world’s best talent including Juhamatti Aaltonen und Brandon Kozun, could not find a way past Barry Brust.

Kaspar added the empty netter and the Slovaks could celebrate their sixth victory in a row, also ending Jokerit’s six-game-winning streak. This streak has brought the Slovak Eagles on the 8^th place of the Western Conference. Jokerit in the meantime still leads the Bobrov Division, 11 points ahead of the third seeded Slovaks.

Brust: "That’s how you make the playoffs"

Jokerit coach Erkku Westerlund was pleased with his team's efforts in the contest. “We had our chances in the third period, but did not use them.”

On the other side, Milos RIha was impressed by the great atmosphere in the arena and very happy with his team’s strong defensive play, pointing out that “we deserved to win this game”.

For net minder Brust, who made 27 saves to earn the win, the great penalty killing was a key for the victory: “They didn’t generate a lot of chances on their power play. That’s a part of our game that has come a long way since the start of the season.”
The reasons for the six-game-winning streak are easy to find according to the Canadian net minder: “Defensively we’ve been shutting other teams down and offensively we have been capitalizing on our chances. That’s how you win hockey games. That’s how you make the playoffs.”

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