The Vítkovic hockey players won the sixth game of the semi-finals of the extra league in Hradec Králové 2:1 in the fourth overtime and forced Saturday’s decisive seventh game on home ice. In a time of 138:51, the longest match in the history of the domestic top competition was decided by Ostravan captain Dominik Lakatoš.
Vítkovice have already lost 0:3 in matches and are hoping that they could be the first in the history of the domestic top league to turn around such an unfavorable situation in the series.
On Tuesday in Ostrava, defender Patrik Koch decided the win for Vítkovice in 98:59, and it was the third longest duel. Today it was crossed as well as two even longer ones. The record so far was 113 minutes and 51 seconds long fifth match of the preliminary round from 2013, when Vítkovice won in České Budějovice 3:2 in the 3rd overtime. The second longest was last year’s duel between Sparta and Liberec in the fifth quarter-final, in which Sparta won at home 5:4 in the 3rd overtime in a time of 103:28.
Matěj Machovský returned to the Mountfield goal after one match instead of Henri Kiviah, Patrik Marcel replaced the injured defender Bohumil Janko, and captain Radek Smoleňák and another forward Marek Zachar returned to the lineup instead of Matěj Chalupa and Radek Pilař. Coach Vítkovic Miloš Holaň had Roberts Bukarts at his disposal after a one-match disciplinary penalty, and Vojtěch Lednický remained out of the game.
The home team had the upper hand in the opening part, outshooting the opponent 13:6, but they were unable to gain ground. First for Hradec Králové, Okuliar threatened with a backhand and in the 5th minute he pushed away Stezka Perret’s attempt from the left circle. Ostrava defended themselves even with Krenželok’s penalty and took the lead at 10:44. Jarůšek found an unoccupied Krieger, who hit over the catcher of the moving Machovský.
Štohanzl failed to equalise, as he crashed on the Vítkovice goalkeeper. Then, when Krieger was left shaken after Rosandič’s intervention, Perret got a chance in the counterattack. Stezka hit again and dealt with McCormack’s shot from the blue line.
At the beginning of the second half, after the penalties of Radovan Pavlík and Štohanzel, the home team defended themselves in a long weakening, including six seconds in three against five. Perret almost had a chance in the weakening, Mueller had the guests’ best chance in numerical advantage, but he shot from a position between the circles to Machovský. Jarůšek then threatened from the break. The home team had a hard time getting into chances, and in the 34th minute, Stezka Zachar did not beat him. Vítkovice also defended against Koch’s punishment.
In the third period, Kotal, Gewies, who went alone on Machovský, and Fridrich had chances. On the other side, Okuliar and Rosandič were close to equalizing, who got in front of the Vítkovice goalkeeper, but failed. During a four-on-four game, he pushed himself in front of Stežka Rosandič, but did not push the puck behind him. Then, Werek failed with a shot from the left circle, but in the 51st minute defender McCormack did. The Ostravan goalkeeper missed Jarušek’s shot.
After Rosandič’s throw from the middle of the court, the puck fell out to Stezek, but Eberle covered the stop. Machovský blocked Stehlík’s shot with a catcher. The Vítkovice goalkeeper stopped Perret’s penetration with the right concrete. The visitors had a great opportunity to avoid extra time. Okuliar threw the puck into the audience and went to the penalty bench 56 seconds before the end of regular time. After Lakatoš’s pass, Krieger was alone in front of the home goalkeeper, but he couldn’t find the space to overcome him.
In the setup, Mueller’s shot caused a bloody wound to the face of defending Kalin. It was played carefully without many chances. In the 72nd minute, Klím’s attempt from the circle was blocked by the guests. Before the end of the first overtime, Rosandič was robbed of the puck by Chlán, but he was unable to finish. Moments later he got ahead of Machovský and Bukarts, but he didn’t match him with a backhand bluff.
In the 85th minute, Okuliar could decide, who found himself in front of Stezka and hit the right post. In the middle of the second set, Kotala from Vítkovice had a chance to decide, but he couldn’t beat Machovský from close range. Vítkovice then resisted the pressure of Mountfield, but Gewiese threw the puck into the audience and, in the weakening of Stezka, continued to hold his team, especially against Lalancette. In the 99th minute, even Klíma did not beat him. Then Kovář went to puck again for throwing the puck away.
In the 104th minute, a hole in the net of one of the goals had to be repaired. After Krieger’s mistake, Zachar missed the chance. At 104:44 after Lakatoš’s chance, Bukarts shot the puck into the goal from the air, but referees Hradil and Stano verified that it was a high stick. On the other side, he did not put the puck in after hugging the goal for Stezka Jergl, who then failed with an attempt from an angle even with Koch’s penalty.
In the 138th minute, Gewies hit Štohanzl’s goal post and the home team had the fourth power play in the setup. But after Dej’s pass, Lakatoš turned the overnumbering bluff into a backhand in a weakened position.
Semi-final of the hockey extra league play off – 6th match:
Mountfield Hradec Králové – HC Vítkovice Ridera 1:2 in the 4th overtime. (0:1, 0:0, 1:0 – 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:1)
Goals and assists: 51. McCormack (Blain, R. Pavlík) – 11. Krieger (Jarůšek, L. Kovář), 139. Lakatoš (Dej). Referee: Hradil, Stano (SR) – Špůr, Šimánek. Exclusion: 6:8. No use. Underweight: 0:1. Spectators: 6322. Series status: 3:3.
Hradec Králové: Machovský – McCormack, Gaspar, Blain, Kalina, F. Pavlík, Rosandič, P. Marcel – R. Pavlík, Miškář, Eberle – Jergl, Lalancette, Perret – Werek, Kevin Klíma, Okuliar – Smoleňák, Štohanzl, Zachar. Coach: T. Martinec.
Vítkovice: Stezka – Grman, Mikuš, L. Kovář, Koch, J. Stehlík, Gewiese, Prčík – Mueller, Krieger, Jarůšek – Lakatoš, Dej, Roberts Bukarts – M. Kalus, Lindberg, Kotala – Fridrich, Chlán, L. Krenželok . Coach: Holány.
