BRATISLAVA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Not even second-ranked Banska Bystrica was able to end Poprad's winning streak in the 30th round of Slovakia's Tipsport Liga. Last season's champions started off well, opening the score in the second minute but their opponents from the country's north answered in the same period and decided the game in the second, with 2-1 the final score.
Banska Bystrica's first defeat in six games allowed table-topping Slovan Bratislava to stretch their lead to six points. The team from the capital traveled to the other end of the country to face off against newly-promoted Michalovce.
The Tipsport Liga newcomers had managed to defeat Slovan on home ice in the 7th round and were angling for a repeat, but Bratislava didn't allow another relapse and ran out comfortable 5-2 winners, with team top scorer Jindrich Abdul adding two more goals.
Third-ranked Kosice cut their deficit to Banska Bystrica to a single point after defeating Detva 3-2, winning their sixth match in a row. Forward David Skokan was Kosice's hero, scoring the game-winning goal (his second goal of the night) 30 seconds before the final siren on a power-play.
Trencin moved up one spot in the rankings to fourth place after a 2-0 victory over Nitra. Last season's runners-up are still struggling in the bottom half of the table in ninth.
Miskolc, one of the two Hungarian clubs playing in the Slovak league, also gained one spot in the rankings after a thrilling victory over Nove Zamky. The home team's Canadian defenceman David Vandane scored with only four seconds on the clock on a powerplay and forced the game into overtime. Ultimately, the match was decided in a shootout, where his teammate and fellow countryman Ryan Harrison became the only one to score and sealed a tight 5-4 win.
Bottom side Liptovsky Mikulas were close to earning at least one point against the visitors from Budapest, but Michal Uhrik missed a penalty shot in the second period and allowed the other Hungarian team in the league to triumph 2-1 and move up in the rankings to tenth place.
