A late goal by Milan Bartovic gave Bili Tygri Liberec a 1-0 win on home ice and a lead heading to Ostrava next week. Read more in Gamecentre.
by Derek O'Brien
It was a defensive struggle all night, and just when it looked like Liberec and Vitkovice would finish the first leg of their two-game series goalless, it was Bili Tygri that got a late shorthanded goal, meaning they will take a one-goal advantage into Ostrava in the return leg.
“Our game plan was clear,” said Vitkovice coach Jakub Petr. “We played very well and organized defensively, which is the bright side of today’s game. The football-like score is almost a tradition for us, as many our games have ended up up lately. I’m just a bit concerned with our offensive productivity. We had several odd-man rushes, but could not score a goal. (Goaltender) Roman Will did very well today.”
In front of their home fans it was Liberec who dominated the first period, especially early. Right on the opening shift there was a flurry of chances in front of Vitkovice goaltender Daniel Dolejs, with Dominik Lakatos and Petr Jelinek getting golden chances only to be denied. Seven minutes later Milan Bartovic skated in alone on Dolejs, who foiled his deke attempt. Vitkovice finally got a chance late in the period shorthanded, when Will tried to head-man the puck, but instead put it on the stick of Yan Stastny, who rushed his shot and fired wide.
“I was very scared at the moment,” Will described. “I didn’t want to cause a face-off in our defensive zone, so I tried to pass the puck to one of our players, but I passed it to their player instead. Luckily for me, one our our defenders made it difficult for him and he missed the empty net. If they’d scored, it would have been very difficult for us, as it was just seconds before the end of the first period.”
The teams settled into a defensive rhythm in the second period, with each team firing 6 shots on goal. However, Liberec did have the more dangerous chances, with Bartovic firing a backhander wide from in close, and Dolejs making a pair of big saves off Jan Ordos and Jan Stransky, the latter on a 2-on-1 rush in the last minute of the period.
It was starting to look like a double shutout for Dolejs and Will, and then visiting Vitkovice went to the late power play when Lukas Derner took a slashing penalty with 4:20 remaining. They smelled the chance to take the lead into their home half of the series, but go over-agressive and an ill-advised pass was picked off, leading to a shorthanded 2-on-1 for Liberec. Radim Simek found Bartovic, and after two previous great chances, three times was the charm for Bartovic, one-timing it past Dolejs with 3:34 to play.
“I felt quite good and I am glad that I managed to score.” a relieved Bartovic said afterward. “I’m a bit sad I did not score one more, because I had a few more good chances. Especially in the last minute, when Jan Stransky passed me the puck in front of the net n a 2-on-1. We could have won by a bigger margin.”
About the game as a whole he said: “There were lots of chances on both sides. Vítkovice played really well, especially in their defensive zone. They got a few opportunities on breakaways, but Roman Will did well. It’s too bad we couldn’t score in the first or the second periods, but we are still happy about the 1-0 win.”
“We faced a very organized opponent,” said Liberec coach Filip Pesan. “They played very well especially in defense. We could have been a bit more active optically, but the game was even in scoring chances. The finish was a bit crazy, as we were afraid of conceding a power-play goal, but we managed to score instead. But one goal in a home game is not enough. Everything is still open before the rematch.”