Sparta won, but lost the Blacksmith. Saturday: Ideal performance? Nowhere
It is still true that only Liberec has beaten Sparta since the New Year. Now in Hradec, they won 4:3 in extra time, when Mountfield’s risk of finishing the match without a goalkeeper did not work out for the first time. But if you immerse yourself in the match a bit? “We were lucky that we managed to stay in the game,” said coach Hans Wallson honestly. Sparta gained points, but there is a risk of losing the number one Jakub Kováře. Goalkeeper replaced due to injury.
For the first time, Hradec’s risk of extra time didn’t work out. He called off the goalie again, for the third time in another he tried the trick of succeeding with four skaters against three. This time, Sparta defended and Vladimír Sobotka scored a great shot from the blue. Kneeling down, Filip Pavlík tried to swing the “clap”, but in vain.
“It wasn’t a completely ideal performance,” Sobotka muttered anyway. “We can be better, it’s a shame about the goal before the end, we were going for three points. But it’s nice that we finally grabbed it,” he added. He was upset that Sparta conceded 95 seconds before the end at 3:3. On the other hand, when Hradec catches up, it is very biting. In the last three minutes, it is one of the two most dangerous teams in the extra league. Only Mountfield and Vítkovice managed to score 10 goals in the period. You just have to be very careful when coach Martinec’s gang is losing and the end is near.
And that it wasn’t an ideal performance? Anyone who saw Sparta on Tuesday in Pardubice will agree with Sobotka. There they were rolling, nothing like that could be talked about here. “First of all, it must also be said that it was a very difficult match, we were up against a quality opponent,” said coach Hans Wallson after the match. This time he was alone on the bench without Miloslav Hořava, who was struck down by illness and stayed at home.
Quite a few significant moments could be found. Mounfield had decent chances that were born from his movement, some of them he didn’t finish at the end, because at the last moment there was always a stick or a big body in a red jersey. “Yes, Hradec played at a high speed, they skated better than us in the first two thirds. We were lucky to stay in the game,” added Wallson.
Jordann Perret’s pass can certainly be included among the great moments of the match, after which the home team’s Christophe Lalancette equalized at 2:2. The Hradec attacker went around the goal, but cleverly scored already on the first post and his partner understood. Patrik Marcel’s “monster hits” also caused a great response in both camps. Twice in one substitution in the second period, he ran over two opponents with his steamroller. It’s hard to get off the ice when you get hit, hard.
It was actually a little surprising that against such a strong opponent, Hradec put one of the worst goalkeepers in the extra league into action. Jan Růžička’s numbers are miserable, he is at the bottom in all important goalkeeping parameters. Before the match with Sparta, he conceded 12 goals more than the data shows in his case. He has big problems in the upper part of the goal, especially on his catcher’s side. His success rate here is 76% (his colleague Kivia is at 87%).
There were also problems around the gloves here. The match ended 3:3 after normal time. But twice Růžička did not hit the puck well with the catcher, once he hit it with a handle to the blue line, the second time it bounced around the goal. However, the winning goal did not make his numbers worse when he fell on captain Pavlík’s catcher…
But Sparta also had one problem, after the match it was not yet clear how big it was. Radovan Pavlík played decent defensively in the beginning, his rockets in skates can do mischief. After one of his penetrations, when he and Jakub Lvo were playing, the goalkeeper Jakub Kovář made a great save. Picking up his tutu, he quickly moved from the left pole to the right. But then he had to change. The number one team never came back and Josef Kořenář won the match. Maybe he’s in for quite a ride now.
Goals caught above expectations (before Sunday’s round)1. M. Mazanec (Třinec) 14.6 The statistics show how many expected goals the goalkeeper prevented (the Hockey Logic server algorithm adds a specific weight to each shot, with the probability that it should have ended up in the net), or, conversely, how many more goals the goalkeeper scored than expected (negative sign) |
Today • 4:00 p.m
Mountfield HK
HC Sparta Prague
Goals
Homemade: 04:28. Leo, 39:55. Lalancette, 58:25. Jergl
Guests: 02:48. M. Forman, 09:22. Safin, 51:17. G. Thorell, 63:57. Saturday
Assemblies
Homemade: J. Růžička (Kiviaho) – Jank, McCormack, Kalina, Blain, Rosandić, F. Pavlík (C), Marcel – Eberle, Cingel, Kev. Klíma – Perret, Lalancette, Jergl – R. Pavlík, Lev (A), Novák – Pilař, Štohanzl, Lang.
Guests: J. Kovář (7. Kořenář) – Kempný, Mikliš, Němeček, Jandus, Moravčík, T. Tomek, Polášek (A) – M. Forman, Sobotka (A), Řepík (C) – Konečný, Horák, P. Kousal – Buchtele, D. Vitouch, Safin – Hauser, G. Thorell, Kaše.
Referee
Hejduk, Stano – Lhotský, Hnát
Stadium
ČPP Arena, Hradec Králové
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