Poprad HK — Slovan Bratislava HC: 5:4, Extraliga

Poprad HC beat Slovan Bratislava 5:4 in the Extraliga on Sunday evening, a result that shifts the early balance in a league where every point matters. Both sides enter their second set of fixtures with zero points in the standings, so this was as much about momentum as anything else.

Poprad came in off a mixed run — three wins and two losses across five games — including that heavy 6:1 defeat to Košice just two days prior. To be fair, they had shown they could bounce back before, beating Nitra 5:2 and Prešov 4:1 in the same week.

Slovan arrived with more confidence, sitting second on four wins from five matches. They had beaten Zvolen 6:1 and Košice 4:2, though that narrow 3:4 loss away at Košice suggested cracks were forming.

We had called Poprad to win this one, giving ourselves 67 percent confidence before kickoff. And here's the thing — it wasn't blind faith. Their home record in these early games, combined with Slovan's slight vulnerability on the road, felt like the right read.

The victory lifts Poprad into the upper half of the table and puts pressure on Slovan to respond. By then, both teams will know where they stand without the ambiguity of those opening fixtures.