Nitra solves at the end and earns a ticket for the Superfinals
Hosts win the game against a brave Kremenchuk in the last part of third period, staying unbeaten
Nitra earned a
place in the Superfinals only prevailing in the third period an indomitable
Kremenchuk, who held his own against the strongest hosts until the end
Kremenchuk
started more aggressively in search of
three vital points to continue the race to the
Superfinals, calling the home goalkeeper
Honzik twice in the first minutes to difficult saves.
Nitra, however, took control of the game and opened the score in the 10th minute with Filip Knies good to take advantage of a
loose puck and beat the innocent Zakharchenko. Even at 13:33 the Ukrainian goalkeeper
can do nothing on a Marek Tverdon's close-range touch in double power play. Two minutes before
the siren, Kremenchuk returned to the
game with a beautiful goal by their best player, Vitali Lyalka, who found an unstoppable shot for Honzik from mid-range. A few seconds from the end
outstanding save by Zakharchenko with the legging.
The middle period
was very lively with chances on both sides and a slight dominance of the
Ukrainians, who deservedly equalized in the 30th minute with a beautiful shot
from distance by Lyalka who found the bottom corner of the Slovak goal. Nitra's
reaction is vehement, forcing Zakharchenko to make a couple of excellent saves
again. Two consecutive power plays produced Nitra's third goal in the 35th
minute: Josef Balaz's shot found the top corner without chance for Zakharchenko.
But the
Ukrainians did not give up and found another beautiful goal after less than a
minute of the third period with Evgeny Ratushny putting the puck exactly at the
intersection of the posts. At the 45th minute after a bad clash on the board between Duke and Sibilevych, with the Ukrainian
player who has to leave after a few minutes on the ice, while
the Canadian receives a penalty match. In
the 5 minutes of superiority the Ukrainians fail to score but naively suffer
the fourth goal just after the penalty, losing a puck in defense and allowing
Jozef Balaz to bypass Zakharchenko and deposit on goal. It is a goal that
extinguishes Kremenchuk allowing Nitra to control the last part of the period
finding the fifth goal again with Knies
with a shot from the circle of faceoffs,
the sixth at 54:34 with Miroslav Pupak
from distance and the last with a minute and a half from the end
with Sebastian Cederle
With this
victory, Nitra remains undefeated and secure a spot to the Superfinals. A brave
Kremenchuk would have deserved more and from tonight is already eliminated