Lev with first ever derby win against Slovan

04 Feb 2013 | Dennis Mende

In the only KHL game on Sunday the Lions from Prague improved their playoff chances significantly.

It was another hard fight in the derby between home side Slovan Bratislava and Lev Prague which already becomes a KHL classic. In the previous three matches between the two teams Slovan always won in regulation with a one-goal difference and also today the game was decided after 60 minutes with one side being in front with only one goal more - but for the first time the winners of all three points were Lev Prague.

In an absolutely crazy first period Tomas Surovy and Vitaly Karamnov brought the guests from the Czech Republic in front with a 2-0 lead already until 01:21. Jan Lipiansky brought Slovan onto the scoreboard for the first time at 06:01 but Lev only needed 23 seconds to answer through Nathan Oystrick. In an even period Slovan didn't give up and came back through Peter Ölvecky and Tomas Mikus for the 3-3. At 14:59 though did Ondrej Nemec restore the guest lead. In the middle period there were less dangerous situations but Slovan again scored the equalizer, this time through Libor Hudacek at 37:15. When everybody waited for the first ever overtime in this derby, Martins Cipulis scored the game winner for Lev late with just two and a half minutes left to play in regulation. Slovan then took a timeout and played without their goalie but with an additional skater but they couldn't force the equalizer anymore so that Lev won 5-4 in regular time.

After this win Lev Prague now made a jump from the 9th to the 7th spot in Western Conference and thus to the playoff spots with now 69 points. With three games left to play in the regular season, they have a one-point advantage. Slovan have to wait until the end of the following national team break before they can finally close their playoff qualification.