HC Košice – HK Poprad 2:1 (0:1, 2:0, 0:0)

Goals and assists: 36. Sukeľ (Skokan), 37. Belluš (Suja, Čížek) — 13. Mercier

Penalized players: 6:4 for two minutes, power plays: 0:0 defense play: 0:0, referees: Novák, D. Konc st. — D. Konc ml., J. Konc ml., 5607 divákov

HC Košice: Košarišťan (Škorvánek) — Slovák, Koch (A), Pavlin, Repe, Čížek (A), Růžička, Zeleňák — Květoň, Chovan, Haščák — Faith, Skokan (C), Sukeľ — Rapáč, Bortňák, Klhůfek — Milý, Suja, Belluš

HK Poprad: Vošvrda (Krístín) — Ulrych, Erving, Dalhuisen, Larkin, Kozák, Fabian, Česánek, Kundrik — Takáč, Zagrapan (A), Svitana (C) — Lapšanský, Jacobs, Vandas (A) — Handlovský, Bjalončík, Mercier — Králik, Matej Paločko, Matúš Paločko

Traditional eastern derby started as usually — already from the beginning it was a quick hockey full of scoring chances. The first one came in second minute when Chovan brought the puck right to the offensive zone. In front of the crease he passed the puck to Květoň but he wasn't able to shoot, so Poprad was lucky. Košice had another opportunity in the second half of 7th minute during the power play of Poprad when another Czech legionnaire in the jersey of Košice had a chance to score. This time it was Klhůfek who accelerated in the middle zone and got into a solo breakaway. In the breakaway, he passed the puck to the backhand side, but unfortunately it happened in front of Vošvrda who could react very well and on time. Scoring chance also came in 11th minute. Larkin's aim was good, Košarišťan wasn't so confident when the shot was coming towards him, but he didn't let the puck end in the net. Two minutes later, Larik was the central figure again, but this time it happened when Košice had a scoring chance. The Steelers outnumbered Poprad 2 on 1, but it was Larkin who blocked the shot and prevented Chovan to pass the puck to Haščák. The well-known saying in Slovakia "won't score, will get" was fulfilled when 13 seconds later Poprad scored. The puck was heading in front of the net and Mercier got there first. Without hesitation he shot the puck straight to the uncovered part of Košarišťan's net. We saw only one more chance in the first period — it came in 18th minute, even tough it didn't appear as a chance at first. Vošvrda moved in different direction than the shot fired from the blue line, and the goaltender of Poprad had to do his best to avoid conceding a goal. At the end, he managed to catch the shot, so after 20 minutes, Poprad was still leading 1:0.

At the beginning of the second period, after penalization of Ulrych, Košice had 77 seconds of power play left. The players of coach Peter Draisaitl wanted to spend these remaining seconds in front of the Vošvrda's net. It didn't go as planned for Košice, defense of Poprad was very strong.  Moreover, it was Poprad who took the initiative after the power-play. Players of Poprad threatened Košarišťan several times. But Košarišťan remained concentrated and didn't have to take the puck out of his own net.  He stayed strong also in 26th minute when Lapšanský produced a good scoring chance. The puck landed right on his stick very close to the goaltender of Košice, but he didn't have a chance against a well positioned Košarišťan. Ten minutes later, Košice used their chance and after a precise shot of Sukeľ, they tied the score. Vošvrda stood firm when the puck bounced several times in front of his net.  But Sukeľ finally skated in front of the crease and tied the score to 1:1. A minute later, the Steelers could celebrate again. Once again, fierce of Košice paid off in front of Vošvrda's net. This time the puck came from behind the net straight to the stick of Belluš who uncompromisingly raised the score to 2:1. Košice took the lead for the first time in this game. The score remained unchanged until the end of the second period.

Before third period, everything was open. One-goal lead of Košice practically didn't mean anything.  Players of Poprad increased their effort to produce a better shooting position in front of Košarišťan, but defense of Košice remained strong and managed to eliminate the opponent's pressure. The players of Košice also got in front of Vošvrda several times and tested his attention. However, both goaltenders remained strong and reliable pillars of their team and didn't let any puck reach their nets. During last ten minutes the score remained unchanged.  Poprad needed to be more creative but wasn't getting any space. Neither power plays, nor the game without a goalie helped Poprad to alter the score. After all, Košice won the second eastern derby of the season and added another three points to the table.

Peter Draisaitl, coach of Košice: "From the second period it seemed too wild on our part.  We were losing pucks, but the players fought for this victory.  Even though it wasn't always so good, we managed to have control over the game and over the points."

Peter Mikula, the coach of Zvolen: "We knew that Košice would put pressure right from the beginning — and that's exactly what happened. Vošvrda backed up the team in the first period.  Overall, we were missing something, we weren't strong in the battles. It all piled up in the third period when we didn't benefit from any of the power-plays.