HK Poprad first to advance to semifinals in Slovak hockey premiership

BRATISLAVA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- HK Poprad became the first team to advance to the Slovak Tipos Extraliga semifinals on Monday after defeating HC 07 Detva 3-1 and sweeping the series 4-0.

HC 07 Detva had the last chance to keep the series against HK Poprad alive but lost the second home game after the visitors scored three times in the first period.

Detva managed to squeeze in only one puck. The first period all but decided the game as no more goals were scored afterward. Despite getting dumped out of the competition in the quarterfinals, it was Detva's best season in its history as the small club has never made it this far.

In Nitra, Slovan Bratislava was also hoping to put the series away going into the game with a 3-0 series lead. But the home team did not want the season to end just yet and kept pace with the favorites, staying close at 2-2 after the first period. Nitra tried to go for the victory in the second period but Bratislava goaltender Tyler Parks did a great job of defusing all scoring chances.

The nerve-wracking duel was marked by two fistfights up to this point and after the second horn, a mass brawl erupted that resulted in numerous penalties.

In the third period, Parks' solid performance came tumbling down as he was scored on by Marek Slovak (his second goal of the night) two minutes in, opening the floodgates for Nitra's shooters. A whopping five more goals ended in the visitors' net and as a result, Bratislava suffered the worst defeat of the season, 8-2.