Round 40: Třinec – Plzeň1/7
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3:19
CHANGE: HC Ocelarí Třinec vs. HC Škoda Plzeň 3:0
Photo: Sport.cz
0:21
Třinec – Pilsen 1:0 (19. Helewka)
Photo: Sport.cz
0:22
Třinec – Plzeň, a great save by Mazan from Třinec against Rekonen
Photo: Sport.cz
0:23
Třinec – Pilsen 2:0 (37. Dravecký)
Photo: Sport.cz
0:23
Třinec – Plzeň, a great chance for visiting Schleiss
Photo: Sport.cz
0:21
Třinec – Plzeň, after a long examination, the referees did not recognize the Třinec goal
Photo: Sport.cz
0:23
Třinec – Pilsen 3:0 (49. M. Růžička)
Photo: Sport.cz
“There was nothing very difficult, the boys played excellent defensively, all the shots landed kind of on my navel, so a big thank you. I didn’t sweat much today,” the 32-year-old goalkeeper summed up the match.
But he was not completely lazy in goal. At the beginning of the third 20-minute period, the reigning champion came under a lot of pressure, but the guests could not get the puck into the goal even after several shots.
“It was a piece of cake, but I didn’t have a single procedure there. The pucks were flying and I was just going side to side and it always ended up falling out somewhere. The boys helped me a lot there, they blocked two or three shots,” Mazanec praised his teammate.
He is not concerned at all with counting clean sheets, which he has already scored twenty-two in his career in the extra league. “But it’s a great feeling,” admitted the goalie with a smile, who started playing hockey in the west of Bohemia and played in Pilsen until he left for overseas in 2013. “We still have a family base there, so hopefully they won’t break our windows at home, Mazanec laughed.
He only believed in the first zero of the season after the final siren. “I expected that at the end we would lose in our power play and I would still lose it. But in the end we played it expertly. The win and three points in the table is still more important. “Zero is a personal statistic, and they always go by the wayside here in Třinec,” emphasized Mazanec.
Třinec won the fifth home game in a row. “But this time there weren’t many chances on either side. Maybe it’s because the decisive part of the season is approaching and playoff hockey is starting to tune up. It is played with maximum caution, system things are done down to the last detail, so that nothing surprises us in the playoffs. It was a kind of waiting for mistakes, about which side it hits,” explained Mazanec.
Several important mistakes were made by the guests. The opening goal was scored by the Canadian Helewka with Kundrátek’s shot, the other two were scored by Dravecký and Martin Růžička after Pilsen’s fouls in close proximity to the goal, which was defended by Samuel Hlavaj.
“Mistakes happen. If it had been played without errors, it would have ended 0:0. We made more of them, that’s why we lost,” said the Slovakian national team goalkeeper, who conceded a total of four goals in Třinec. However, the second goal by Helewka from Třinec was not recognized by the referee after checking the video.
“I was sure it was a goal. I think so even now,” Hlavaj made no excuses. “Our player (David Kvasnička) hit the post and then, in my opinion, the puck went into the goal. Maybe a bit to the bar, but in my opinion he would still have reached the goal,” described Hlavaj.
