Pavel Novák secured a 3-2 overtime victory for HC Tábor against Piráti Chomutov on Thursday, lifting the club into second place in the Maxa liga standings after 11 matches. The result marks Tábor’s eighth win of the campaign, moving them to 22 points in the tightly contested second tier of Czech ice hockey.
Tomek Debuts as Chomutov Claims a Point
Thursday’s matchup under the Krušné hory mountains featured multiple lead changes before settling into a tense finish in front of 1,318 spectators. HC Tábor opened the scoring six minutes into the first period through Haman, before Chomutov responded in the middle frame. Coskey leveled the score at 24 minutes with assists from Přikryl and Baránek, and Redlich put the hosts ahead at 36 minutes. Jungwirth tied the game for Tábor at 39 minutes, setting the stage for Novák’s overtime winner following a late penalty-filled sequence that saw five minor penalties called against Chomutov and seven against Tábor.
For Chomutov, the game marked the season debut of goaltender Matej Tomek. The Litvínov loanee returned from injury to stop 27 of 30 shots faced against an aggressive visiting attack. Despite the overtime defeat, the single point moved Chomutov out of the relegation zone into 11th place with 11 points, breaking a tie with Sokolov and Slavia Praha in the lower tier of the table.
Standings Shift in the Maxa Liga
VHK ROBE Vsetín continues to set the pace at the top of the Maxa liga with 26 points from 10 games, holding a four-point cushion over the chasing pack. Behind them, HC Tábor and HC Dynamo Pardubice B occupy the next two spots with 22 points apiece, though Tábor holds the edge via tiebreakers after 11 appearances. HC Stadion Litoměřice and SC Retia Kolín round out the top five with 21 points each in a standings table where margins remain razor-thin across the opening two months of the season.
The league schedule continues on Saturday, October 10, with a full slate of 11th-round fixtures. HC Tábor returns home to face HC Frýdek-Místek, while Piráti Chomutov travels to face league leaders VHK ROBE Vsetín. Further matches feature AZ Havířov hosting HC Dynamo Pardubice B, HC Stadion Litoměřice playing RI Okna Berani Zlín, SC Retia Kolín meeting HC Dukla Jihlava, HC Baník Sokolov squaring off against Horácká Slavia Třebíč, and HC ZUBR Přerov playing HC Slavia Praha.
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