Pilsen’s four-on-five game is almost the worst in the competition. However, the home team did not use even one of the five power-ups. With a four-minute numerical advantage, Mertl got ahead precisely with Budík, who received a pass and shot past Novotný with a shot at the near post. “This hit and victory is for my grandmother, who unfortunately is no longer with us,” said the emotional hero of the match.
“I didn’t expect to aim so accurately. I’m very happy for the goal,” smiled the returnee to the lineup, who was recovering from an injury in the upper body. “It was a little unusual on the ice. I was physically well prepared, but my head had already gotten a little used to the matches,” admitted the 24-year-old Budík , who appreciated the excellent performance of the entire team. “We all performed our tasks 100 percent. And we received praise from the coaches for the best performance this year,” revealed the defender.
The basis of success lay in quality defense. Škoda only rarely let the opponent into great chances. She fought exemplary. As they say, she ate ice. “A match like in the playoffs. Solid defense and we went to breaks. It’s just a shame that we didn’t secure the victory,” assessed Budík.
Photo: Radek Petrášek, CTK
Maris Bičevskis from Boleslav and Pilsen goalkeeper Miroslav Svoboda.Photo: Radek PetrašekCTK
The Blue and Whites jumped to fifth place in the table. “We’d like to stay up like this. We want to get to the top four and advance directly to the quarterfinals,” Budík said. Pilsen dominated the fourth match in a row. In all of them, they had fewer shots than the opponent, but Miroslav Svoboda, who has a 96.8% save success rate for these duels, kept them up each time.
He picked up his second shutout of the season against Boleslav. However, according to him, West Bohemians do not have to tame the euphoria. “There is none. Of course, the series is nice, but we still work the same,” said the 27-year-old goalkeeper.
Photo: Radek Petrášek, CTK
In battle (from left) Adam Jánošík from Boleslav and Samuel Bitten from Pilsen.Photo: Radek PetrašekCTK
On the other hand, Boleslav’s string ended, after three wins they came out empty-handed. Even the great battle between Adam Jánošík and Pilsen’s Samuel Bitten did not start the home team. He wanted to fight already in the first period, but he succeeded in calling for a fight only twenty minutes later. In a undecided and fair fist fight, both fighters dealt each other a nice line of blows, but neither ended up on the ice.
The whole match was even, but the green and white team did not use any of the 27 shots on goal. “We couldn’t follow up on the performances from the previous matches. We got the first goal again. But this time we just chased the opponent and they calmly played hockey,” Slovak forward Róbert Lantoši regretted.
Photo: Radek Petrášek, CTK
The Pilsen players are rejoicing in the victory.Photo: Radek PetrašekCTK
The return to the Bruslař team was bittersweet for defender David Bernad, whom Boleslav acquired back from a loan from Karlovy Vary in exchange for another full-back, Matěj Stříteský. “Unfortunately, a sad renewed premiere. But I’m glad that I’m back,” admitted the 28-year-old native of Písek, who has been with the Central Bohemian club since he was a junior.
“The comeback happened very quickly, briefly and clearly. Sports director Martin Ševc called me, outlined his vision and we immediately agreed. Martin is a person I will gladly go back and fight for. Just like under Boleslav,” Bernad explained. He hoped that the change of environment would help him, but it didn’t happen. “The initial intoxication soon wore off. But at least I cleared my head and I’m back. Hopefully I can last another Friday,” he added.
