Brno Kometa won the preliminary game of the 42nd round of the extra league on the ice of Sparta 3:1. The defending champions defeated their Prague rivals for the third time in the season and scored their third win in a row. Defender Rhett Holland and captain Jakub Flek both contributed to this with a goal and an assist. The home team lost four of their last matches, despite playing four of them in front of their own spectators.
Just after a few seconds, Chlapík shot, Řepík got to the stop, but visiting goalkeeper Stezka was ready. Then Němeček had to go to the penalty bench, in his weakness he threatened Knot during the renumbering, but he also crashed on Stezek.
In the seventh minute, however, the home team completely forgot about Flek, who drove alone to Kořenář and in the end confirmed the position of the best gunner of the season – he hung the puck into the top corner of the goal and sent Kometa into the lead with his 22nd accurate shot of the season.
Kořenář then caught Zbořil in the 13th minute. Moments later, Prague played a power play, in which Chlapík had a promising opportunity, but he was unable to overcome Stezka. Even the guests did not take advantage of the numerical advantage.
At the beginning of the second half, Kousal was close to equalizing, but he only rang the crossbar with a pinpoint shot. In the 26th minute, Kořenář distinguished himself when, with a brilliant save, he blocked Zábranský’s well-aimed cannonball during a Jihomoravanu power play.
After half the match, however, Kollár charged Holland perfectly, who aimed perfectly exactly like Flek, and the guests already had a two-goal lead to their credit. Before the second break, the Spartans pressed the opponent in front of Stezka, but did not end the great pressure with a contact hit.
The beginning of the third period offered a similar picture, but Stezka was magical in places and kept a clean sheet. In the 50th minute, Sparta had a power play at their disposal, but they acted very lukewarm during Kometa’s lunge and were punished by Zábranský for it – 0:3.
In the continuing five-on-four game, Irving still got through with a shot without preparation and dramatized the ending. At 56:55, Král committed a foul against the rules.
Extraliga table
