Comet goes to Sparta without Holland, intends to break the crisis
The team from Brno is in a significantly worse situation, as they have won only twice in the last ten starts, and seven times they did not score at all. The last time they failed was on Sunday at home against Vítkovice (2:5). “We were always one step behind and unfortunately we played badly weakened,” head coach Patrik Martinec found the main reasons for the failure. Defender Holland will be absent due to disciplinary action.
Thanks to three consecutive away wins, the Pardubice hockey players atone for their home defeat against Sparta and lead the table ahead of Vítkovice by four points. “Even if you have a good streak, it can change at any time. And often after a good streak comes a bad one, that’s why I personally always only look at that one game. We will approach it like any other game and we will want to win. The fans will definitely they will drive and there will be a great atmosphere,” said striker Lukáš Sedlák.
Hradec Králové scored eight times in a row, of which they lost three times. Seven matches during this period were decided only in overtime. “Even though we were able to collect three points at times, everyone is needed,” said striker Lukáš Cingeľ.
In mutual matches, both rivals have scored one win so far, taking advantage of the home environment. “It will be another exceptional match in Pardubice, a lot about the psyche, just those nerves can make the decision. We won the last time, so we will definitely want to return it. Derby does not have a favorite and in general in the league every match is different. Everyone can win against everyone.” said Cingeľ.
Mladá Boleslav lost both of their previous matches with Ocelári, who had stopped in the playoff semis of two seasons. However, under Jiří Kalous, the Central Bohemians did not come out empty handed and celebrated two wins from three starts. “I value every point gained very much,” said Kalous’ assistant Petr Haken.
In the last round, Třinci’s winning streak stopped at number five. The Steelers lost to Olomouc, with whom they have not yet scored in other matches. However, mutual matches with Mlada Boleslaví end in the opposite way. The defending champion won eleven games in a row.
“Against Olomouc, we played one of the worst matches. We need to return to our previous work and performances,” said Daniel Voženílek, who replaced the ill Tomáš Marcink in the middle of the elite form. A virus has swept through the Steelers’ cabin in recent days. “That’s currently in every team in the extra league, I wouldn’t make excuses for that. We have to deal with it,” said assistant coach Vladimír Országh.
Vítkovice will start a series of five home matches with a duel with Liberec. The coach of Ostrava, Miloš Holaň, boasts that he is emptying his stomach. His wards defeated the White Tigers in the last two duels.
“It’s a top team that has experienced players, in quotes from the national team goalkeeper. It’s also a team with the third highest number of away games won, but we’ll mainly take care of our game,” said Holaň. “We have to break away from good discipline, tactics and system play. Everyone is already preparing for us with maximum concentration, because we have been at the top since the beginning of the season. It must motivate us all the more that we cannot afford to let a meter of ice go for free,” Holaň added.
With Sunday’s triumph over Karlovy Vary (3:1), Liberec ended a streak of three defeats. “The key to success was that we played for the full sixty minutes. Even if the game we played looked the way we wanted and the match was full of fights, we won it. That’s what counts,” said defender Richard Nedomlel. With Ostrava, the White Tigers have played only one point out of a possible six.
Karlovy Vary are only three points clear of Kladno from the penultimate place, which makes the match between them all the more important. Last time Energie pod Ještěd came out empty-handed, but after a good performance. “If we continue this kind of performance, I believe that we will start winning. I hope that we will start on Friday on home ice,” said goalkeeper Vladislav Habal.
The Knights want to bounce back from the performance from the first period of Wednesday’s duel with Pardubice, in which they struggled a lot. But in the end they lost 1:4. “We had an excellent start to the match. If we build on that and play like this, then we can beat Vary and anyone else,” said defender Martin Kehar. “We are still within striking distance and we are not giving up, there are still a lot of games ahead of us and I believe we will win,” added Kehar.
In the remaining two matches, České Budějovice will welcome the hockey players of Plzeň, and Olomouc will compete with Litvínov. South Bohemia and Litvínov have 44 points equal to Karlovy Vary. Pilsen is sixth behind Hanáky by one point, and both teams can still confidently think about placing in the top four.
HC Sparta Prague (4th) – HC Kometa Brno (10th).
Kick-off: 18:30 (O2 TV Sport).
Head-to-head matches in this one: 2:3, 6:2.
The most productive players: Roman Horák 37/29 (10+19) – Petr Holík 38/36 (9+27).
Goalkeeper statistics: Jakub Kovář 2.14, 91.88 and six clean sheets, Josef Kořenář 2.05, 90.99 and two clean sheets – Dominik Furch 2.76, 90.91 and two clean sheets, Marek Čiliak 3.22, 90.28 and kept a clean sheet once.
Attractions:
– Sparta won four times in a row and lost only one of the last eight duels.
– Prague have won eight of the past nine games at home.
– The Comets have lost four of their last five games.
– Brno has won only one of the last eleven duels away from home.
– Sparta have won six of their last eight matches.
– Canadian defender Rhett Holland will begin serving a two-match suspension for a foul on Vítkovice forward Petr Fridrich.
– Sparta captain Michal Řepík can play his 300th match in the extra league with Mlada Boleslav on Sunday.