Uvis Jānis Balinskis (right) Photo: Litvinov “Verva”
Latvian defender Uvis Balinskis scored on Friday and gave a successful pass in the Czech hockey extraliga game, promoting the victory of Litvínova’s “Verva” team. Litvīnova hockey players beat Mlada Boleslav, represented by striker Māris Bičevskis, at home with 5: 0 (2: 0, 3: 0, 0: 0).
Five minutes before the end of the first period, Balinskis scored 1-0 with a strong throw from the middle distance, thus scoring a goal that later turned out to be the winning one. Bichevsky was on a rejected bench at the time. Balinskis scored the second point in the third minute of the second period, when he helped his teammate to reach 3: 0.
Balinski spent 23 minutes and 50 seconds on the ice in this duel, during which he threw three throws, blocked two throws, used one method of force and was at a neutral efficiency. Bičevskis scored once in 15 minutes and 52 seconds, blocked one throw, won four of 18 throws, scored two penalty minutes and finished the match with neutral efficiency.
In another match, the defender Robert Mammitch scored with a pass, while he and the striker Zlina “PSG Berani” from Patrick Zabusov played Olomouc 3: 2 (1: 0, 2: 0, 0: 2) at home. The victory was also won by Vītkovice’s “Ridera”, represented by striker Robert Bucharest and defender Guntis Galviņš, who prevailed over Prague’s “Sparta” 3: 2 (1: 0, 1: 2, 1: 0). On the other hand, the “Škoda” of Plzeň, represented by the forward Mārtiņš Dzierkala, suffered a loss and conceded to Hradec Kralov’s “Mountfield” 4: 7 (0: 1, 2: 5, 2: 1).
Only Česke Budejovice’s “Motor”, represented by defender Christopher Bindulis, did not play on Friday. Among the teams represented by Latvians, Škoda, Mlada Boleslav and Motor are the highest in the tournament table, occupying positions from fourth to sixth.
