Extraliga Round 38

Petr Polák of Eurohockey.com is once again providing round-by-round recaps of the Czech Extraliga. In Round 38, the only home team to win was Liberec; led by four points from Petr Nedvěd, the White Tigers humiliated Kladno 8-2.

Liberec captain Petr Nedvěd (centre) regained the league scoring lead with with a goal and 3 assists against Kladno on Friday night. Photo: Joerg Stephan, pixilla.de, hcbilitygri.cz.

Zlín 2 – České Budějovice 3

The fans in Zlín had to wait for a goal until the 23rd minute. They were really happy when Ondřej Veselý gave them the lead, but their joy survived only 97 seconds. After Milan Gulaš equalized the score, Zlín would never lead again. Instead, Marek Melenovský was able to answer Gulaš’s second goal in the 44th minute, but České Budějovice scored the winning goal three minutes before the final horn.

Vítkovice 0 – Slavia Praha 6

The home team opened the game in style. Vítkovice had plenty of chances in the first period, including five power plays and one penalty shot, but didn't score. Slavia took it as an opportunity and scored a goal in the first minute of the second period. They then scored three more goals in the middle frame and two more in the third. The only shutout of the round goes to Dominik Furch, with 34 saves.

Karlovy Vary 1 – Oceláři Třinec 4

Defenceman Tomáš Klouček played his very first game for Třinec today after leaving the KHL's Lev Poprad and earned 1 goal and 1 assist. After 80 seconds of play, he opened the score, then ten minutes later he assisted on a goal by Martin Lojek to put his team up 2-0. Although Karlovy Vary got back in the game in the 17th minute, the Steelers of Třinec gained control of the match in the second period with two goals.

Kometa Brno 2 – Mladá Boleslav 1 (SO)

Brno earns two points in a shootout victory over Mladá Boleslav. This is probably a fair result because the game did not have much entertainment value. The visiting team opened the scoring in the 12th minute, and then Tomáš Svoboda tied the game at 1 in the 27th minute. After that, the fans at Kajot Aréna had to wait until the shootout before more goals were scored.

Pardubice 3 – Plzeň 1929 4 (SO)

This game was decided in a shootout as well. But in comparison with Brno-Mladá Boleslav, this was a more exciting game. Pardubice took the lead in the first period, but Plzeň equalized the score before the first period ended. The home team jumped in front again early in the second, but Plzeň tied it again. It was Plzeň that entered the last ten minutes of the third period with the lead, but Pardubice equalized the score as well. Jan Kovář was the man who scored the game-winner in the first shootout round, while nobody else was able to beat the goalies.

Litvínov 1 – Sparta Praha 6

Sparta entered the game in the position as the league’s leader, while 12th-place Litvínov trailed the Spartans by 30 points before it began. As was expected, Sparta won easily. The home team did not find the net until the 50th minute, and by that time, the score was already 5-0. The only thing the home fans had to get excited about was a fight between Litvínov's Ján Brejčák and Sparta's Angel Krstev; the home player won it and then pulled Krstev’s jersey over his head. Sparta's Petr Ton, who entered the game with a two-point lead on Nedvěd and Plzeň's Radek Duda in the scoring race, had an assist.

Bílí Tygři Liberec 8 – Rytíři Kladno 2

In terms of goals scored and margin of victory, Liberec is the king of the round. The second period was the most critical part of the game for Kladno, during which the Knights were scored on four times. Once they were down 6-0, Jiří Bicek and Marek Hovorka's goals barely made a dent. Liberec assured its victory with two more goals in the last five minutes.


Below are the league standings and scoring leaders, courtesy hokej.cz. For more detailed statistics, click here.

Standings:
Place	Club	GP	W	OW		OL	L	GF:GA	Pts
1	HC Sparta Praha	38	20	6		6	6	120:78	78
2	HC Plzeň 1929	38	20	6		5	7	130:98	77
3	HC Mountfield České Budějovice	37	20	3		2	12	106:90	68
4	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	38	19	3		4	12	128:91	67
5	Bílí Tygři Liberec	38	15	9		1	13	100:90	64
6	PSG Zlín	38	15	5		5	13	81:92	60
7	HC Oceláři Třinec	38	14	3		7	14	109:101	55
8	HC Vítkovice Steel	37	14	4		3	16	100:103	53
9	Rytíři Kladno	37	14	2		3	18	93:109	49
10	HC Kometa Brno	37	12	4		4	17	94:100	48
11	HC Slavia Praha	39	13	2		5	19	98:120	48
12	HC Verva Litvínov	38	11	6		3	18	97:124	48
13	HC Energie Karlovy Vary	38	11	2		4	21	100:120	41
14	BK Mladá Boleslav	39	10	2		5	22	82:122	39

Leading Scorers
	Player	Club		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
1	Nedvěd Petr	Liberec		35	17	25	42	5	52
2	Ton Petr	Sparta		38	20	21	41	20	6
3	Duda Radek	Plzeň		38	19	20	39	15	66
4	Koukal Petr	Pardubice		37	16	22	38	13	38
5	Burger Jiří	Vítkovice		36	12	25	37	9	32
6	Tenkrát Petr	Sparta		38	16	19	35	2	26
7	Straka Martin	Plzeň		38	11	24	35	2	14
8	Hübl Viktor	Litvínov		35	15	19	34	4	24
9	Gulaš Milan	Č.Bud.		35	14	20	34	6	40
10	Kolář Jan	Pardubice		38	11	23	34	18	26