RAHL1 – Round 5: Wild Thing Karaoke handle Black Jokers too, HK Petržalka push their way up

The fifth round did not answer the question of who will stop the leader, either. Wild Thing Karaoke won the marquee game of the round against Black Jokers 6:3 and have five wins from five games. It was decided by power plays, penalty kills and Marcel Ulehla. He opened the scoring in the 11th minute on a 5-on-3, made it 2:0 in the 19th minute, and 36 seconds later Jozef Kubo added a third goal. Black Jokers pulled to within 2:3 on two goals by Nikolas Ketner in the 24th and 27th minutes but could not tie it. Ulehla completed his hat trick shorthanded, and then Martin Ďumbala scored twice – first on the power play, the second time 33 seconds from the end. In between, Alex Ftáčnik could only cut the deficit. The visitors thus scored two power-play goals and one shorthanded, and Ulehla finished the game with a 3+1 line.

HK Petržalka beat Neanderthals 4:0, and all four goals were scored by Ľubomír Patlevič. The last-place team hung on for a long time, though: until the 29th minute it trailed only 0:1. Then Patlevič scored three times in less than five and a half minutes and added the fourth goal shorthanded. Dávid Chachalák assisted on three of his goals. In its last two games the defending champion has scored 15 goals and allowed none.

The most dramatic game opened Saturday's schedule. Uličníci beat AHC Pezinok Ducks 5:4. They led 2:0 and 3:1, but Lukáš Opath tied it at 3:3 with two goals in a span of four minutes. The winner was decided by Tomáš Griglák and René Furdek with goals in the 35th and 37th minutes. Opath completed his hat trick 31 seconds from the end, but Ducks had no time left to tie it. Griglák had a hand in four of the five Uličníci goals (1+3), and Dominik Vaniak added two goals and an assist.

AHS beat Mad Vipers 5:1, even though the score was 1:1 after twenty minutes. Denis Bučko scored as early as the 38th second, and Eduard Korpa tied it in the 5th minute. The turning point came in the 21st minute, when Nina Roštecká put AHS ahead. Then Bučko, Juraj Vojtko and Róbert Dobrý added a goal apiece. Bučko had a 2+2 line, and as many as nine AHS players recorded a point. Wild Hogs had a bye in this round.

Wild Thing Karaoke – HK Petržalka (Round 2). Photo: RAHL

How the standings have developed. Wild Thing Karaoke have led the competition since the first round and their lead is growing: after five rounds they have 10 points, four more than their closest pursuers, who have, however, played one game fewer. The leader has not trailed even once this season – they scored the first goal in all five games. They have already beaten all four teams that sit right behind them in the standings.

The biggest leap was made by HK Petržalka. After the third round, in which they had a bye, they were seventh; today they are second. With four goals against in four games they have the best defense in the league. Goaltender Marek Ivan has allowed a single goal in three games – in the second minute of the opening round – and has been unbeaten for almost 119 minutes since. Uličníci also have six points. They won two games by a single goal, 2:1 against Mad Vipers and 5:4 against Ducks, and have lost only to the leader.

Heading in the opposite direction are AHC Pezinok Ducks: they were second after the second round, and after three straight losses they are eighth. They do know how to score – 21 goals is the third-highest total in the league – but 30 goals against is the most of anyone. Black Jokers were second after the third round; two losses have dropped them to fourth place. Of their 22 goals, 17 came in two games (7:5 against AHS and 10:0 against Neanderthals); in the remaining three they scored five in total and lost them all.

Thanks to the win over Mad Vipers, AHS moved up from eighth place to fifth and have an even record of two wins and two losses. Mad Vipers were fourth after the third round, but they have scored only two goals in their last two games and dropped to seventh place. Wild Hogs slipped from fifth place to sixth during their bye round. Neanderthals are still waiting for their first point, but against the defending champion they played their closest game of the season.

Neanderthals – AHC Pezinok Ducks (Round 2). Photo: RAHL

The scoring race is extremely tight. Three players have 9 points each: Vladimír Hegely (Wild Hogs, 4+5 in three games), Alex Ftáčnik (Black Jokers, 2+7) and Marián Horváth (Wild Thing Karaoke, 2+7). One point back are Michal Sklár (AHC Pezinok Ducks) and Tomáš Nekoranec (Wild Hogs), and another seven players have 7 points each. The top goal scorers, with five goals, are Lukáš Opath and Ľubomír Patlevič – Opath needed two games for them, Patlevič three.

Round 6 – Saturday, 10 October:
8:30 Mad Vipers – Black Jokers
9:45 Wild Hogs – Neanderthals
11:00 AHC Pezinok Ducks – AHS
12:15 HK Petržalka – Uličníci

The leader has a bye, so attention will turn to the matchup of second against third. HK Petržalka and Uličníci both have 6 points, and the winner will close to within two points of Wild Thing Karaoke. Mad Vipers and Black Jokers are each coming off two losses, and AHC Pezinok Ducks will try to end a three-game losing streak against AHS.