today 12:10
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In Monday’s duel of the 47th round of the Tipos regional extraliga, hockey players from Nitra extended their losing streak to thirteen games. They lost for the fourth time this season in the regional derby against Nový Zámek (2:5).
The unsuccessful match was followed by the second Nitrian attack made up of the Canadians, involved in four of the five goals conceded. Forward Tomáš Mikúš decided the game in the central half with two almost identical runs.
Nitra’s men compounded the situation just after 24 seconds of play, when the hosts’ Martin Bodák collided with Canadian defender Mike Lee from behind. The main referees assessed the intervention as a penalty until the end of the match, and the “bulls” immediately had five extra minutes at their disposal. Ironically, however, they cashed out during the large lead. In the 3rd minute, Latvian Filips Buncis resolved the two-on-one lead with a shot at the far post – 1:0. After the first act, the dice showed a balanced score of 2:2.
“We started well, we took the lead when we were down. We lost the match in the second half” said home team coach Antonín Stavjaňa, whose players picked up twice from Tomáš Mikúš’s stick in the second half. “The puck went on the ice and I tried to hit it or put the stick in its path. Luckily I managed it twice, which makes me happy.” said the author of two goals for the visitors.
Before the match with Nitra, the Novi Zámek team failed for the first time in the season in three consecutive duels. They avoided a deeper crisis with their third victory on the ice of Nitra. “The crisis comes in every team sport, it’s completely normal. We tried to give our best in every game, but we know you can’t win 50 duels. I’m happy we managed to win again after three games collapse.” added the 29-year-old striker.
CANADIANS HAVE FAILED
The match didn’t go well at all for Nitra’s second attack, made up entirely of Canadian players. The duo of Jake Elmer and Sahir Gill added four negative points to their stats, Reid Duke three. The latter did not intervene in the match in the third period, when he was replaced by thirteenth forward Michael Drábek.
“We expected the legionnaire line-up to make the difference, unfortunately they conceded a goal. We expect every game to start, but the whole team has to work. We booked another defeat after our mistakes.” sighed the coach from Nitra, who admitted that the difference in the performance of the legionnaires from Nitra and their regional rival was significant.
“I understand the players who have come, who haven’t played games this season and need to get in. However, we can’t wait for them to take ten games. It’s about our lives and we need to act immediately and not wait” added the 59-year-old Czech, who returned to Zobor for the fifth time in early December and was on the fifth of a thirteen-game losing streak. The longest and most unflattering streak in the Slovak top competition since its inception was led by Liptovský Mikuláš, who lost 19 games in a row in the 2020/2021 season.
