15.02 Hockey: Surprise Loss to Slovenia Hurts Slovakia at Olympics

SOCHI, February 15 (R-Sport) – Slovakia suffered a 3-1 defeat to outsider Slovenia on Saturday, leaving the 2012 world championship finalist among the Olympic hockey tournament's worst performing teams.

Following on from a 7-1 pounding by the United States on Thursday, Slovakia’s mostly-NHL roster, led by Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, is now certain of having to face a pre-quarterfinal round of qualification playoffs. Barring a big win over Russia on Sunday, Slovakia is likely to be one of the lowest seeds in those playoffs.

That would be an embarrassment for a team that won the world championship in 2002 and came second to Russia in 2012, while for the small ex-Yugoslav nation of Slovenia, beating Slovakia is one of its biggest-ever hockey achievements.

Far from the expected defense-first approach, Slovenia outshot Slovakia 31-28 and won the game with a blitz at the start of the third period. Rok Ticar started the onslaught with a backhand wrist shot before Tomaz Razingar made it 2-0 with a one-time slapshot.

The Slovenians’ only NHL player, Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings, extended the lead on 9:22 of the third when he skated wide from the slot before flicking a wrister past embattled Slovakian goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

The Slovakians salvaged some pride 18 seconds from the final buzzer when Tomas Jurco scored off an assist from Chara and Tomas Zaborsky.