After losing the first game of the Round of 16 to HV71 Jonkoping by a 4-2 score, Sparta Prague forward Petr Vrana looks back at the game on home ice, and ahead to what his team needs to do in the return game in Jonkoping.
by Karolina Antosova
PRAGUE – For the third year in a row, Sparta Prague have made it to the Champions Hockey League Round of 16. In the two previous years, they were stopped by Linkoping HC and Karpat Oulu at this stage, and this time after playing the first game at home, they trail HV71 Jonkoping by two goals after a 4-2 defeat.
The effort was obvious. But sometimes the harder you try, the less you score. Sparta have struggled offensively the last couple of games and this continued against HV71. Although Sparta pulled out all the stops in the third period and even pulled their goalie for a sixth attacker in the last three minutes, the third goal didn’t come. “We had couple of good scoring chances. On the other hand, they hit the post twice,” Sparta forward Petr Vrana described.
You seemed little bit lost in the first game of the Round of 16. HV71 controlled the game most of the time. Did you expect them to play like that?
“Oh yes, they played exactly how we expected them to play. The first 40 minutes were really bad from us. Only in the last 20 minutes did we start to play our game and were better. At least we scored the second goal and made it 4-2. Heading into the game in Sweden it is still open.”
Do you think they will play the same back home or they will change something in their game?
“I think they will play little bit more offensively. They will be the home team there, so they will definitely have more confidence. I’m sure it won’t be enjoyable to play against them again.”
What was wrong with your game? Together with the Czech Extraliga you’ve now lost three games in a row.
“We scored only two goals again, although we had many chances. It’s hard to evaluate the game as we didn’t play our best the first two periods. We were chasing the puck in vain and they just did what they needed and wanted. We weren’t dangerous. We improved little bit in the third period and scored once. We started to play aggressively, which caused them troubles. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time left. We don’t score as often as we would like to. We do our best, practice that really often and hard. I think we are getting slightly better.”
You spent almost the last three minutes without a goalie. It was quite a unique and unexpected move. What do think about that?
“I don’t think it was a bad move. We had couple of good scoring chances. On the other hand, they hit the post twice. We were dangerous and it’s always good to work on these kinds of situations. Of course you can say that they could have scored another goal to make it 5-2, but if we hadn’t had tried, we wouldn’t even have to play.”
Have you ever experienced something like this before?
“Yeah, probably. Maybe when we were younger and the coach thought that we had some pressure and started to play better. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn't try it again.”
Martin Thornberg, CHL Cramo Top Scorer and HV71 forward, was your teammate a couple of seasons ago with Lev Prague. Did you have a chance to talk to him before the game?
“Not really, we didn’t have much time. But we spent quality time together with Lev and I hope we will have some time to chat in Sweden.”
Read the post-game interview with Thornberg HERE.
He scored twice in the first game on Tuesday. Was he the same as how you knew him from before?
“That was exactly how I remember him. He’s an unbelievably skilled player. The first goal we just let him go alone on our net without any back-checking. When you do that, you can be 100 % sure he’ll score.”
What will be important in the next game in Jonkoping?
“We have to get off to a good start. It won’t be easy and we will have to be patient. There is a two-goal difference, so we need play solid defence and produce more goals than in the first game.”