RAHL1 – Round 8: Neanderthals claim their first win, six points for Valovič, Wild Thing Karaoke 7 from 7

Neanderthals had to wait six games for their first win of the season – in the seventh it finally came. In a meeting of the bottom two teams in the table they beat Mad Vipers 5:2 and did not trail for a single moment from the opening face-off to the final siren. Martin Rokosz opened the scoring in the 4th minute; Mad Vipers equalised on the power play through Michal Srnec, but Denis Brnčal restored Neanderthals' lead before half-time. Four minutes into the second half Filip Morvay made it 1:3. Patrik Rusnák pulled one back, but two and a half minutes later Robert Jurčo restored the two-goal cushion, and three seconds before the end Lubomír Vondráček sealed the win. The five goals were scored by five different players; Denis Brnčal finished with 1+2, Filip Morvay with 1+1 and Michal Imrich assisted on two goals. For comparison: in their previous six games Neanderthals had scored two goals in total.

HK Petržalka beat AHS 8:4, even though they were behind after just 75 seconds to a goal by Filip Honz. Tomáš Jevčik equalised and Jakub Valovič put Petržalka ahead on the power play before Erik Koštuřik levelled again at 2:2. Then came four Petržalka goals in a row – Maxime Zupka, Ľubomír Patlevič, Matúš Kocún and Jevčik made it 6:2. Valovič added a short-handed goal and Patlevič completed the scoring less than a minute from time. Valovič finished with 2+4 – until now only Jozef Krafčák had scored six points in a single game this season, with four goals and two assists against the Ducks in round 4. Patlevič added 2+3, Jevčik 2+2 and Kocún 1+2. Koštuřik scored twice for AHS, with Honz and Adam Hudok adding one goal each.

Leaders Wild Thing Karaoke beat Wild Hogs 7:4 and still have a perfect record after seven games. Jozef Kubo scored in the 2nd minute and Patrik Trischitz made it 2:0. Wild Hogs drew level with two power-play goals from Dávid Diškanec and David Benedig, but Wild Thing Karaoke then scored four goals in less than nine minutes – Alek Ivan, Martin Fila twice and Trischitz – and led 6:2 at the break. Afterwards Wild Hogs pulled two back through Julo Horváth and Tomáš Nekoranec to make it 6:4, before Adam Šimonič settled it two and a half minutes from time. Trischitz and Fila scored two goals each. Vladimír Hegely assisted on Nekoranec's goal and with 16 points is second in the points standings.

The last game of the round between Uličníci and Black Jokers ended in a 3:3 draw. Black Jokers took the lead with a short-handed goal by Alex Ftáčnik, and Uličníci turned it around before half-time thanks to Dominik Vaniak and Richard Juračič. Tomáš Mikuš equalised on the power play at 2:2, and when Vaniak put Uličníci back in front with his second goal in the 36th minute, it looked like a win for them. Gabriel Štetka, however, equalised 117 seconds before the end. Tomáš Griglák assisted on two Uličníci goals; for Black Jokers Ftáčnik and Mikuš had 1+1 each. AHC Pezinok Ducks had a bye this round.

Neanderthals – HK Petržalka (round 5). Photo: RAHL

The standings after round eight. All nine teams stayed in the same places as a week ago. Wild Thing Karaoke lead with 14 points from seven wins in seven games, a goal difference of 33:11, and with 11 goals conceded they have the best defence in the competition. HK Petržalka keep pace two points behind. Since losing to the leaders in round 2 they have won five in a row, and with 41 goals they have the best attack – they have already scored eight or more goals three times this season.

Third are Uličníci with nine points, two ahead of fourth-placed Black Jokers, who have already played eight games, one more than the rest of the league, and have the bye in round 9. AHS and Wild Hogs have six points each, and both have now lost twice in a row. AHC Pezinok Ducks had the bye and are seventh with five points.

At the bottom of the table things got tighter on Saturday. Mad Vipers lost their fourth game in a row and have three points, while Neanderthals moved to within a single point of them with their first win.

Ľubomír Patlevič, Neanderthals – HK Petržalka (round 5). Photo: RAHL

Round highlights. 36 goals were scored, nine per game – nine more than in round 7 and the most in a single round this season. The highest-scoring game was Petržalka against AHS (12 goals). The endings were dramatic: Vondráček scored three seconds before the siren, and Štetka saved a point for Black Jokers less than two minutes from time.

Two players scored short-handed – Ftáčnik opened the scoring against Uličníci and Valovič made it 7:3 against AHS. HK Petržalka have three players in the top six of the points standings, and Valovič equalled the season's best of six points in a single game.

Ľubomír Patlevič of HK Petržalka climbed from sixth to the top of the points standings. He has 16 points (10+6) from five games and with ten goals is also the league's top goal scorer. Vladimír Hegely of Wild Hogs also has 16 points (6+10), and third is Tomáš Griglák of Uličníci with 15 points (6+9). In fourth, Jakub Valovič of HK Petržalka has 14 points (6+8) from only four games. Patrik Hubek of HK Petržalka and Marián Horváth of Wild Thing Karaoke have 13 points each (both 3+10), and on 12 are Lukáš Opath of AHC Pezinok Ducks (9+3), the competition's second-best goal scorer, and Alex Ftáčnik of Black Jokers (3+9).

Round 9 – Saturday 7 November:
8:30 Wild Hogs – Uličníci
9:45 HK Petržalka – Mad Vipers
11:00 Neanderthals – AHS
12:15 Wild Thing Karaoke – AHC Pezinok Ducks

RAHL1 takes a break next Saturday, and Black Jokers will have the bye in round 9. Round 9 closes the first half of the regular season. The leaders take on the Ducks, Petržalka face Mad Vipers, and Neanderthals will try to build on their first win against AHS.