Defending champion HK Nitra suffered a heavy 6:3 defeat on the ice of HK 32 Liptovský Mikuláš during the 17th round of the Tipsport liga, Sportnet reported.
The match marked Nitra’s return to domestic league action following a ten-day international break. While Liptovský Mikuláš entered the fixture holding fifth place in the standings with 28 points, the reigning titleholders sat in eighth position with 24 points, according to league records.
The home side established control early when Jakub Sukeľ intercepted a risky pass through the middle from visiting defenseman Bača and opened the scoring at 04:43, sport.aktuality.sk reported.
Nitra drew level in the 11th minute through Marko Stacha, who converted a feed from Artur Turanský past goaltender Andrei Kareyev. Just before the first intermission, Liptovský Mikuláš reclaimed the lead when Marek Vankúš redirected a point shot from Sena Wendell Acolatse past Matt Jurusik.
Middle period momentum and penalties
The hosts pulled away in the second stanza. Max Ferkodič capitalized on a defensive battle won by Richard Podolinský to score on a breakaway at 28:00, and Alex Čajkovič added a fourth goal less than two minutes later following a rebound off Jurusik.
Physical play boiled over at 30:04 with a mass brawl resulting in major penalties. Both Michal Uhrík and Marko Stacha received game misconduct penalties for fighting, leaving both benches short-handed.
Late push falls short
Nitra mounted a brief recovery in the third period when Artur Turanský scored off a Zach Osburn point shot at 43:10, followed by a power-play marker from Dmytro Timashov at 47:15 that narrowed the deficit to 4:3.
However, consecutive penalties by Osburn and the Nitra bench handed the hosts a two-man advantage. Brandon Coe capitalized on a cross-crease pass from Michal Chovan at 52:59 to restore a two-goal cushion, and Jakub Nespala capped the scoring at 55:30 by redirecting a shot from Aidan De La Gorgendiere.
Nitra stays on 24 points as Liptovský Mikuláš climbs
The regulation loss keeps Nitra on 24 points after 17 matches, while Liptovský Mikuláš solidified their position in the upper half of the 12-team league table.
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