Illustration photo – Match of the 59th round of the hockey extra league: Motor České Budějovice – White Tigers Liberec, March 6, 2022 in České Budějovice. From left, České Budějovice goalkeeper Dominik Hrachovina, Sebastian Čederle from Liberec, Petr Šenkeřík from České Budějovice and Mislav Rosandič from Liberec.
České Budějovice – On Wednesday, the players of Liberec can come within one point of the desired position in the top four in the hockey extra league. The White Tigers will play in the preliminaries of the 49th round on the ice of České Budějovice. However, the South Bohemians will also have great motivation – Four rounds before the end of the regular season, Motor is only one point behind the last Kladno. In addition to the threat of a tie, the home team can still boldly think about participating in the preliminary round. He also loses a single point to the twelfth Litvínov.
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Photo gallery: Hockey Extraliga 2022/23
For Motor, the match will have a festive undertone. On Wednesday, the České Budějovice club will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the 1987/88 season, in which it dominated the basic part of the then Czechoslovak league. Therefore, the home team will start in retro jerseys. Much more important for them, however, will be to end a streak of three defeats in front of their own audience, during which coach David Čermák's men scored a single point and conceded a total of 14 goals.
“It is important for us now to score in every match. When to lose, at least with a point,” emphasized goalkeeper Jan Strmeň, whose team was boosted by Sunday's 4:1 win in Ostrava over home team Vítkovice. It meant breaking a streak of five losses.
“It just hit us. We are playing more as a team, I hope we will continue to do so. We are already playing in the playoffs, we are playing for a lot. Now we have Liberec, we have to beat them by three points at home. We would like to have already certainty,” said Strmeň, reminding that among the remaining four matches there is still the last mutual duel with the Knights – it will take place in the 51st round, scheduled for Friday, March 3.
As the end approached, the North Bohemians took a breath for an excellent finish and won their last five matches after great performances. The last time they beat Sparta, who were playing in great form, was on Sunday. “We know that the elite four are really close. For us, almost every game is like a playoff. It's good that we manage to win these close games and lead them to a winning end. We have to continue,” said forward Jan Ordoš.
The Motor hockey players have the upper hand in the current season's matches. Although they took a 1:6 debacle away from Liberec at the end of October, they subsequently won 4:1 at home and in their second appearance in Ještěd achieved a two-point win thanks to a 3:2 victory in extra time.
Statistical data before Wednesday's preliminary game of the 49th round of the Tipsport extraliga hockey:
HC Motor České Budějovice (13th) – White Tigers Liberec (5th).
Start of the match: 17:30 (O2 TV Sport).
Head-to-head matches in this season: 1:6, 4:1, 3:2 in extra time.
Most productive players: Lukáš Pech 48 games/46 points (8 goals + 38 assists) – Oscar Flynn 47/35 (20+ 15).
Goalkeeper statistics: Jan Strmeň average 2.41 goals conceded per match, save success rate 92.06 percent and kept a clean sheet once, Dominik Hrachovina 2.99 and 89.57 – Petr Kváča 2, 12, 92.57 and once kept a clean sheet, Jakub Neužil 3.11, 90.09 and once kept a clean sheet, Daniel Král 3.84 and 85.45.
Interesting things:
< p>– České Budějovice, after a series of five defeats, during which they gained only two points, won on the ice of Vítkovice 4:1 on Sunday.
– Motor lost three times in a row at home and gained only one point.
– Liberec won five times in a row and lost only two points.
– The White Tigers scored twice in a row after a series of four defeats.
– České Budějovice won five of the last of six matches.
