OLIMPIJA 4 - 1 FEHERVAR
"SWEET, SWEET, SWEET VICTORY, YEAH!"
New era begins with a win!
Lineup changes
Simšič is up to the 1st line right wing, as Lavoie is out. Tomaževič is back to 3C and Kapel is 2nd line right wing. Hebar starts on the 3rd pair and Bohinc is 7th D-man. Zajc returns to the 3rd line.
Stars of the game
* Nick Bonino (PPG, G) - silky quality galore. Thank whichever deity you subscribe to that he chose to join us!
** Lukaš Horák - although we did a better job of keeping the opposition to longer-range shots, Horak was there to smother any chances when they did get more dangerous ones. His only conceded goal was on a heavy screen that didn't give him a chance to react. After a few games below his lofty standards, he is well and truly back.
*** Andrej Tavželj - our offensive movement flowed a lot better than it had been prior to this game. We incorporated more movement and deception, both of which are important to shot and goal generation. The powerplay didn't magically change to something other than 'uhhh give it to Sabla on the right circle', but it's unfair to expect a sea-change at this stage. Regardless, he did a great job stepping in to the interim HC role and deserves his flowers, as they say.
Stats
If you'll forgive the scrawling, what have I been saying?! Look at our three goals in the slot (in yellow on the left, circled in green). Is it any surprise that creating more chances down low results in more goals? No! Well done, fellas!
On the flipside, you can see how we largely kept Fehervar to long-range efforts, one of which they scored from. Conceding one goal per game is absolutely fine with me! Similarly, on the right hand side (highlighted in green) we also had more dangerous opportunities closer to the net. It's funny that both right circles were foci for shot generation. Checking the ICE League website shows it wasn't just one guy over and over, either. It was a full range of our top-6 and middle-6 forwards.
Shots-wise, it was a tight game - but the tables turned after our recent run of games. This time, it was us having higher quality shots, as the image above shows.
Save % 30/31 = 96.7. Vintage Horak is back, baby!
Shot % 4/29 = 13.8. Slightly above average, but the shots were in high quality areas, so I'm not concerned with a big regression incoming.
Goal breakdowns
1st goal - 1-1
Beautiful, sweeping movement by Rok Kapel to open up space for Mahkovec, fresh off the bench, to fire one in from the right circle. This was clever play, as secret agent Marcel stole behind a puck-watching Fehervar. For all Kapel has been switched around the lineup and for all his poor analytics, this was really positive and I hope to see more like this from him.
2nd goal - 2-1
I have to confess that I was at a family meal out during the game last night, so I didn't watch it live. The highlights today very kindly leave out the 2nd goal, so I'm afraid there's no analysis for you or me! Bonino scored, assisted by Simšič and Mahkovec.
3rd goal - 3-1
Gorgeous work by Bonino, as he engages heartily in a PP faceoff, sees the puck squirm away while others have lost sight of it, and slinkily throws the goalie this way and that before sliding it 5-hole. I hear this guy played to a decent standard prior to coming here?
4th goal - 4-1
Simšič flicks the puck along the boards, Kale helps it along, Sabla turns behind the net and flings it back into the net-front mixer. Two Fehervar defenders clumsily try to get rid of it, but they disrupt each other and Nik gleefully returns to finish the move he started, pouncing on the opportunity and forcing it home.
Points:
Bonino PPG, G
Mahkovec G, A
Simšič G, 2A
Kapel A
Sabolič A
Mašič A
Interim Coach Transcript - Andrej Tavželj post-game
"I was really happy that we showed emotions at the beginning. That was the biggest sign for me that we were ready. I never doubted that they don't care, more or less they were afraid to play. I am really happy that they changed that kind of mindset and that they were ready to go and ready to play. I am really happy for them because I know it was hard for them all this time now, loss after loss, and again I have to say it. It's really hard to see the coach go, but for sure he's still in our minds. He gave his all. The guys believe we can do that. I'm happy for the guys that they showed themselves they can still play in this league and beat anybody."
Final thoughts
What a start to the new era! Fehervar looked like they were down a few players; they'd just lost 2-7 at home to Pustertal. Clearly they were more vulnerable than they'd ever been. Still, as Mr Tavželj said, it was great to see some emotion, some smiles and some goals. I hope we keep this energetic, deceptive and high-movement style in the next few games, too.
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