Budapest ice hockey club ends six-game losing streak in Slovak premier league

BRATISLAVA - Budapest managed to end its negative streak of six straight defeats in the Slovak premier ice hockey league Tipsport Liga, triumphing in Nitra 2-1 in overtime on Sunday.

The Hungarian team's top scorer Chris Langkow from Canada scored the game-winner 16 seconds before the end of the extra period and brought Budapest its first away victory of the season in the 27th round.

The Tipsport Liga leader answered Zvolen's opener with two goals in the third period but the visitors tied things up and forced the game into overtime. Bratislava's second-best scorer, the Czech-born Jindrich Abdul, became the hero of the match, scoring the golden goal (his second of the night) to put the game away at 3-2.

The longest game of the round was played in Trencin. After both the home team and Kosice scored once in regulation and naught in overtime, a shootout was needed to determine the winner. Again, both teams scored a penalty shot each, followed by five unsuccessful rounds. It was Marcel Hascak who broke the stalemate and secured a 2-1 victory for Kosice, stretching the third-ranked team's winning streak to four.

Elsewhere, the second-best team of the league Banska Bystrica won its third straight game, defeating the other Hungarian team Miskolc 4-2 on home ice. The third period turned out to be crucial, the last season champions scored three times to tip the scales towards their success.

Plagued by injuries, Liptovsky Mikulas traveled to Poprad without several key players and was crushed by the home team as a result. Eighth-ranked Poprad dominated 8-0 over the team from the bottom of the league, earning its fourth victory in a row and moving up one spot in the rankings. Miroslav Preisinger led the scoring department with two goals and one assist.

The Finnish-born defenceman Ville Korhonen experienced a wonderful night on Sunday, scoring a hat-trick for the league's newcomer Michalovce, significantly helping his team defeat Detva 6-1 and move up one spot in the rankings to sixth place.