The hockey players of Sparta defeated Litvínov 5:1 in the preliminary game of the 44th round of the Tipsport extra league, after three setbacks they were happy with the win and beat Verva at home for the tenth time in a row. The Prague team, in whose jersey defender Ronald Knot (31) started for the first time after his arrival from Sweden, won three times in the power play. The last Litvínov loses six points to the thirteenth Mlada Boleslav.
The North Bohemians entered the match actively, but Sparta quickly caught up with the opponent and took the lead after Ondřej Kaše missed the first significant chance. After Krejčík’s pass from the bar, captain Clapík made his way and scored his 17th goal of the season.
Vesalainen could have added the second goal after a separate action, but he did not beat Čajan. In the power play, even Shore did not succeed, as the goalkeeper Vervy made an excellent save. Litvínov could have equalized when Niko Seppälä was sent off, but Kořenář headed away Koblas’ dangerous shot at the end of the numerical advantage.
The visitors managed to equalize in the 24th minute, when Hännikäinen’s shot bounced off the back bar directly to Pištěk, who did not hesitate and confirmed Litvínov’s top scorer position with the 11th goal. Three minutes later, Kousal could give Sparta the lead, but Čajan managed to stop the puck in time with his hockey stick. On the other hand, Hlava failed.
With Pysyk’s dismissal, he threatened to weaken Shore, but only hit the crossbar. Sparta thus prevailed in the subsequent power play, when the Canadian attacker found Řepík from behind the goal, who hit the post exactly.
In the third part, Verva was able to match the pace in the power play, but was unable to punish the foul of Kousal or Dzierkals. After the defensive weakness, Sparta took a breather and began to attack more, but the attentive Čajan kept the visitors in touch. However, the people of Prague managed to score a reassuring third goal in the 56th minute when Dzierkals made his mark.
In addition, Šenkeřík fouled right away and Sparta gained a numerical advantage for the second time. The guests tried to cancel Špaček’s goal with a coach’s challenge, with which they failed and continued to weaken. He had the last word 58 seconds before the end of Kousal.
The second-to-last Boleslav won 2:0 in the playoff of the 39th round over Hradec Králové and ended a streak of three defeats. She came close to the twelfth Kladno with a difference of three points and also has a game to spare. Mountfield lost the third of their last four matches. Tomáš Fořt scored both goals for the home team, Vojtěch Mokry kept a clean sheet.
Liberec flew into the game and took the lead after only five minutes of play. Ivan’s selfless pass was placed behind Klouček’s back by Pérez to open the scoring. In the next 44 seconds, the White Tigers even led by two goals. Sandberg took the puck from the hesitating Vráblík, exchanged him with Lenc and shot over the concrete of the moving Klouček to increase the difference to two goals.
Visiting coach Čihák requested a time-out and Motor got into the game after all. In the 11th minute, Kachyňa washed away the home defense and shot under the crossbar. The North Bohemians could have taken their two-goal lead back in the power play, but Klouček dealt with Lence’s chance. After that, Českobudějovičti also played with a numerical advantage, and Lukeš prevented Přikryl’s goal joy with a fantastic save. At the very end of the first period, Cibulka shot the left post of Lukeš’s goal.
The score of the match thus changed again shortly before the half of the match, and to the delight of the home audience, the hockey players of Liberec prevailed. After good pressure in the attacking zone, Faško-Rudáš circled Klouček’s cage and invited the descending Galvas to score from the blue line. Musil could have added Liberec’s fourth goal in a power play, but Klouček distinguished himself.
In the 36th minute, however, he was already short on Pytlík’s shot from a quick renumbering and the White Tigers jumped to a three-goal blockbuster. After that, however, Mazura committed a completely unnecessary foul outside the game, who headed to the locker room prematurely before the end of the game with a penalty for five minutes, and South Bohemia took advantage of the opportunity offered. After a pass from Harris, Lukeš was burned by Bulíř from ex-Liberty.
In the beginning of the third period, Přikryl also burned through Lukeš with a shot from the center circle, and České Budějovice already lost only one goal. However, Liberec had an early response ready and after confusion in the Motor goal area, Klouček was put through for the fifth time by the prompt Faško-Rudáš.
The game then spilled from side to side, but more often the home team had the puck on their sticks. The guests had to push forward more and more as time went on, but Liberec’s defense worked well. Less than three minutes before the final siren, the visiting coach Čihák took a risk without a goalkeeper, but made it 6:3 with a shot into the abandoned Lenc goal.
