Karlovy Vary beats Prague's Sparta 1-0 in Czech hockey match

Karlovy Vary's Energie beat Prague's Sparta 1-0 away in a Czech regular-season game at the O2 arena. Ondřej Beránek scored the winning goal in the 25th minute, while the visitors' goaltender, Frodl, stopped everything the home side threw at him, including several breakaways.

Frodl came up big again and again

Prague started the game on the front foot, testing their opponents' goaltender's attention several times already in the first period. The biggest threat came from Matěj Blümel, who broke in alone on Frodl but the Energie netminder handled the shot. The Czech goalkeeper was just as sharp against a two-on-one from Tomáš Hyka and Devin Shore. The visitors had their own chance through Jan Bambula, whose shot missed Jakub Kovář's post by centimeters. The first period ended scoreless: according to the match stats, Sparta had six shots on target to the visitors' none, but that didn't throw Karlovy Vary off their game.

The decisive goal in the 25th minute

The key moment came midway through the game. After sustained pressure in the attacking zone, David Šťastný got the puck and fired it along the ice — Ondřej Beránek got a stick on it, deflecting the shot just enough that Kovář had no time to react. The goal was credited with assists from Šťastný and Winberg. Energie went up 1-0, and that moment ultimately decided the game.

Sparta pressed on but couldn't beat Frodl

The home side threw everything at tying the game and created several big chances in the second period, but each time ran into a superbly playing Frodl. Blümel first hit the post, then, while playing shorthanded, again broke in alone on the goaltender — but once more the Energie netminder read it perfectly, stopping the shot with his right pad. Sparta captain Filip Chlapík also had a chance to level the score: after a pass from Michael Špaček he picked up the puck in front of an empty net, but shot wide from a good position.

In the final period Prague kept up the pressure, but the visitors defended the neutral zone smartly and didn't let their opponents shoot from good positions. When the home side did manage to get a shot away, they ran into a confident Frodl. Energie also had a chance to extend their lead: in the 54th minute David Šťastný and Ondřej Beránek broke in two-on-none against an empty net, but Šťastný passed instead of shooting, and Beránek missed the target from a prime spot. That miss didn't hurt the visitors, though. Late in the game Sparta called a timeout and tried to mount a final push, but Karlovy Vary's defense and a reliable Frodl held on until the final horn. Final score: 0-1 (0-0, 0-1, 0-0) in front of 13,424 spectators.

Source: karlovarsky.denik.cz