HC Olomouc faced a tough challenge in the first leg of their playoff series against Trinec, falling 1-0 despite a stellar performance from goaltender Matej Machovsky.
Machovsky was nearly impenetrable, frustrating Trinec’s shooters throughout the contest. The lone goal against him came on an unfortunate deflection off a teammate, as Orsava inadvertently redirected a Flynn pass past his own netminder.
Olomouc likewise successfully killed off all three of Trinec’s power play opportunities, limiting their opponents’ chances with a strong defensive showing. Despite the narrow defeat, the team can take confidence from keeping a potent Ocelari offense largely contained.
Here’s a look at the current playoff standings: 1 game played, 0 wins and 1 loss, with a goal difference of 0-1.
In away games, Olomouc has a record of 1 game played, 0 wins and 1 loss, with a goal difference of 0-1.
As of now, no players have registered a point for Olomouc in the playoffs, and no one has found the back of the net.
Olomouc is currently 0% on the power play (0-for-2) and a perfect 100% on the penalty kill (3-for-3).
Matej Machovsky played the full 60 minutes in goal, allowing one goal on 30 shots for a save percentage of 97.83% and a goals-against average of 1.02. He did not record a shutout.
HC Olomouc head coach Róbert Petrovický acknowledged a slow start but praised his team’s defensive effort. “From the beginning, the opponent had pressure. We knew what we were getting into. We defended the first two power plays brilliantly. We were very concentrated in defense. In the second period, we also had some opportunities on the power play that we didn’t take advantage of. We necessitate to be more willing to shoot. There was an unfortunate accident on the opponent’s goal, then we withstood Trinec’s pressure well. We improved our movement a lot in the last period, it’s a shame we didn’t take advantage of our chances. I consider the posts were ringing on both sides. It was a close game decided by one goal. We need to push more into the offense and be a little bolder on the counterattacks.”
