The hockey players of Brno completed a turn in the preliminary round series against Vítkovice with a 3: 1 win in the decisive fifth match in Ostrava and thus secured their progress to the quarterfinals of the playoffs against Třinec.
The comet thus turned the series from 0: 2 to matches 3: 2 and in the quarterfinals it will challenge the second team of the basic part of Třinec for four winning matches, on whose ice the series will start at the weekend.
“We are happy that we managed this difficult match and brought the whole series to a victorious end. We are glad that we were able to turn what we said here after the second match into reality. In my opinion, the key moment of the whole series was the third third of the second match. when we started playing as Kometa, “said one of the Brno coaches, Jan Horáček.
He also named another key factor. “Karel Vejmelka caught up with us very well, he did it fantastically and we can be grateful that we have such a goalkeeper. Now we will regenerate and we will challenge Třinec with all humility in the quarterfinals.
Brno was famous for entering the decisive game. From the first action, Vincour got to the end twice and Dolejš was overtaken by Valský from the third attempt, who just blindly threw the puck from the angle at the goal. The waiting goal for Brno was 47 seconds. “I tried it from the turn at the goal for a stop, but it passed between the legs, the goalkeeper probably didn’t expect it,” said Valský.
In the first act, the guests had more of the game, more dangerous shots and their activity increased the most after the forced exchange of Vítkovice goalkeepers, when Dolejš had to be replaced by a substitute and extra-league rookie Peksa for five minutes after hitting the mask. Brno immediately tried it from all positions, but in the greatest chance Šoustal missed the upper corner of the goal up close.
Vítkovice made the most of the first third. In the 18th minute, Friedrich surprised Vejmelka with an attempt from a zero angle.
The typical match for everything suffered in the second part only with goal moments. One of the few options was created by the home team at 1: 1, but Schleiss did not beat Vejmelka after a counter-renumbering. “We missed a moment of surprise or greater predation into the goal,” remarked Vítkovic coach Miloš Holaň.
Power players played an important role, and both sides played it in a disciplined manner. However, Kometa struck from the third power play and in the 38th minute Mueller’s attempt from the axis of the field was greatly helped by the shading Rákos in front of the Vítkovice goalkeeper, who had a covered view. “He pulled it from the mantinel to the middle, it flew between two players in the middle and unfortunately I am not enough to react,” said Vítkovice goalkeeper Daniel Dolejš.
In the third part, Brno strengthened the middle zone and Vítkovice, despite all their efforts, could not get into chances and failed to do so in a single power play. The home team gripped their opponents in the final five minutes, but they had no problems with the pucks thrown at the Brno goal.
Therefore, more than two minutes before the end, the Ostrava team recalled the goalkeeper, but without firing on Vejmelka, they lost the puck and Zaťovič brought him to an empty goal despite Lakatoš’s knockdown. “We played a great series, I have nothing to blame the boys. I believed that we could do it, maybe we missed a little luck in Brno. It’s a great pity, we played great,” Dolejš regretted.
Preliminary round of the hockey extra league playoff – Match 5:
HC Vitkovice Ridera – HC Kometa Brno 1: 3 (1: 1, 0: 1, 0: 1)
Goals and recordings: 18. Fridrich (Dej, Werbik) – 1. Valský (Vincour, Rákos), 38. Mueller (Zámorský), 59. Zaťovič (Mueller, P. Holík). Judges: Hejduk, Pešina – Ondráček, Špůr. Exclusion: 3: 2. Utilization: 0: 1. No spectators. Final score of the series: 2: 3.
Vítkovice: Dolejš (13. – 18. Peksa) – Pyrochta, R. Polák, Galvinš, Gewiese, Koch, L. Kovář – Lakatoš, J. Hruška L. Krenželok – Schleiss, Mikyska, Svačina – M. Kalus, Flick, Mallet – Dej , Werbik, Fridrich. Coach: Holaň.
Brno: Vejmelka – Zámorský, F. Král, Holland, Kučeřík, Svozil, Gulaši, Bartejs – Mueller, P. Holík, Zaťovič – Vincour, Rákos, Valský – V. Němec, Klepiš, Plášek – Schneider, Šoustal, Bondra. Coach: Zábranský.
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