Barney scores in Boleslav debut

Scott Barney (#36) celebrates his first goal in his first game
for Boleslav. Photo courtesy Jan Pavlíček, bkboleslav.cz.

In his first game as a member of BK Mladá Boleslav, Scott Barney scored his team's lone goal in a 4-1 loss to HC Vítkovice Steel. After last-place Boleslav quickly fell behind 2-0 against first-place Vítkovice, Barney cut the lead in half on a set-up by Lukáš Pabiška and Darrell Hay. But the overall strength of the Vítkovice team prevailed on the strength of 2 goals and an assist from Jan Kaňa.

High-flying HC Kometa Brno got off to a quick start against HC Plzeň 1929, building up a 3-0 lead. But despite the deficit on the scoreboard and in the standings, the scrappy club from West Bohemia scored four times in the second period and eventually won the game 5-4. Once again, the duo of John Lammers and Nick Johnson teamed up with captain Martin Straka to form a line that gave their opposition fits all night. Lammers assisted on the first of two goals by Radek Duda to increase his season total to 14 points; tops among North Americans in the Tipsport Extraliga. Tomáš Vlasák's 3 points gives him a league-leading 36 for the season. And Plzeň continues to battle its way back toward a playoff spot after being penalised 19 points by the league. With 22 points, they now trail 10th-place HC Slavia Praha by 9, with still more than half a season to go.

On the day that ex-NHLer Jiří Šlegr took over as the team's General Manager, HC Benzina Litvínov topped HC Mountfield České Budějovice 6-4.

And in its first game after the release of defenceman Brian Salcido, HC Sparta Praha lost 4-1 in Liberec. Also missing from the lineup was defenceman Doug O'Brien, who sat out the game with an injured shoulder. His status for Sunday is unknown. The White Tigers (Bílí Tigři) were led by a goal and an assist from Petr Nedvěd.

Rounding out the night's action, HC Eaton Pardubice won 5-2 on home ice against HC Vagnerplast Kladno.