Slovakia men's ice hockey team qualifies for Beijing 2022

BRATISLAVA, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- In a thrilling match-up, Slovakia men's hockey team edged Belarus 2-1 on Sunday to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

It will be the sixth appearance at Winter Olympics for the Slovak team.

After defeating Austria and underdogs Poland, the Slovak team needed to secure at least one point in its final fixture of the tournament against Belarus.

Five minutes into the game, Sergei Sapego's hard foul on Slovakia's young talent Juraj Slafkovsky saw him ejected out of the game and the home team used the subsequent powerplay to score the opening goal by Avangard Omsk forward Peter Cehlarik.

The game turned quite nervous on both sides, resulting in numerous penalties but neither team converted on their man-advantage opportunities.

One minute into the second period, team Belarus tied the game when New Jersey Devils forward Yegor Sharanagovich managed to squeeze the puck under Branislav Konrad's body during a scrimmage in front of the Slovak goalie.

Belarus keeper Dany Taylor was key in his team's effort of staying in the game, saving a solid total of 37 shots. His counterpart Konrad only had to flash his gear 21 times.

The visiting team desperately needed a victory but could not find a way to turn the game around. In the final minutes of the match, Belarus pulled its goalie but Libor Hudacek managed to get ahold of the puck after a face-off, took it towards the center of the ice, and scored a difficult empty-netter to seal Slovakia's 2-1 victory and secure a spot at the Olympics.