MOL League: Week 1 review

The opening week of the MOL League season brought great excitement and more as each team played three games and every match have at least five goals being scored between the two teams.

Ather the first week Miskolc and DAB sit at the top of the standings as the two undefeated teams. However both teams did lose points with a shootout and overtime wins respectively. At the other end of the table Csíkszereda can feel disappointed as they are the only team not to win a game or register a single point and only scored two goals in three games. The only shutout of the week was the 7-0 Miskolc win against Csíkszereda where Bence Bálizs made 35 saves and Tihamér Becze had three assists against his employer from last season.

The season started with and exciting game where last season’s champions Nové Zámky needed overtime to defeat Újpest who finished at the bottom of the table in 2013-14. UTE had a 5-1 lead going into the third period with NZ needing to pull their goalie Robin Blazicek to score in the last minute of the game to send it to OT, Peter Polick tied it up and Juraj Faith won it in extra time.

Two days later everyone in the league was in action with Debrecen making their MOL League debut. Debrecen handled Újpest easily in a 5-1 win which is a nice way to debut the League in front of the home crowd, five different Debrecen players found the back of the net.

Nové Zámky played their first home game of the season against HSC Csíkszereda, the game was tied 1-1 going into the third period but NZ was able to pull away from HSC for the 4-1, Albin Podstavek scored two out of the three goals in the third period.

DAB needed overtime to win at home against last year’s runners up Brasov. The home team took an early 2-0 lead on two Dávid Szappanos goals, Brasov tied it up in the second with the last period remaining scoreless. Szappanos completed his hat trick when he scored the overtime game winner.

The last game on Friday night was also a 4-3 score but this was in regulation as Miskolc beat Ferencváros thanks to two goals and two assists by Becze.

After the overtime loss on the road Ferencváros came back the next day for a 4-3 shootout win in front of a home crowd against Brasov. The game was a classic back and forth battle as neither team lead by more than one goal. The shootout itself went to sudden death as the teams were tied after the first three rounds. Gábor Kiss was the hero as he converted his attempt on the regular part of the shootout and scored a second one as he put the puck past Patrik Polc for the game winner.

Balázs Ladányi’s visit back to Dunaújváros was not as smooth as his expected as his new team Debrecen lost 6-3, DAB was already up 4-1 after the first period. Ladányi did finish with two goals and an assist in the loss, on the other side Ákos Kiss and Zsolt Azari both had three points each as well.

On Monday Debrecen came up on the short end of an exciting game as DHK lost to Brasov 5-4. Brasov did lead 3-1 at one points and both teams were deadlocked at three at the start of the third period, before the visitors were able to pull away. Brasov’s Martin Saluga lead all scorers with 2 goals and 2 assists.

DAB played host to Ferencváros on Monday night, the SteelBulls opened up an early two goal lead and held on to the 4-3 win as FTC could never pull even throughout the game.

The first week of games were brought to a close with probably the most exciting game, a 4-3 shootout road win for Miskolc over the previously undefeated Nové Zámky. NZ was up 3-1 in the second period but Miskolc scored in the last minute of the period to cut the deficit to one. In the last minute of the game the home side had a two man advantage and looked to close out the game when Kalvin Sagert picked up a loose puck on the penalty kill, skated in on the NZ keeper and was tripped up. Sagert converted the awarded penalty shot to send the game into OT. Bence Bálizs stood tall as he stopped both penalty shots he faced for the shootout win.

Quote of the week

“That was a pretty exciting finish for the fans and us as well,”  Miskolc’s Tyler Metcalfe after the 4-3 SO win against Nové Zámky.

Leading Scorers

Points: 9, Tihamér Becze, Miskolc

Goals: 4, Ákos Kiss, Dávid Szappanos (both DAB), Balázs Ladányi (DHK)

Assists: 6, Becze (Miskolc), Balázs Somogyi (DAB)