HK Partizan - Crvena Zvezda 6:1 (play-off, 3rd game)

Victory!!! What a victory!!!
Fantastic, amazing, incredible, confident, smooth, when the only question is how many more goals we should score to them.
We slid out to the rink and tore their faces off.

I brought lots of screenshots, these are from the warming-up

Team captain Marko Milovanović

Head coach Nikola Bera

This is one of the rare non-screenshots: group hug before face-off

(photo: Facebook/Hokej savez na ledu Srbije)

Fan banner: Nemate pare, imate nas! (You have no money, but you have us!)

(photo: Twitter)

Face-off: the puck was dropped by Partizan’s legendary goaltender Rašid Šemsedinović

The game almost started with a fight, after a Zvezda-player mocked Gavrić. This time the pace wasn’t that fast, compared to the previous two matches. Both sides were trying, attacking, Trifonov had some great saves.

To hell with these names. I failed to write correctly at least two, but possibly even three players’ names. Apologies to all whom it may concern. After I finished this post, I go back to my previous ice hockey reports and correct them all.

Nevertheless we scored our first goal after 3 minutes. Captain Milovanović personally took control over things when he got the puck after the great teamwork of Filipović and Janković.

Victorious high five with everyone on the bench

The goal made us even more fierce, while Zvezda was at a loss. They could barely get to our goal area, their only luck was that their defense line blocked our attempts relatively successfully. There was only one moment when they dangerously approached our goal line. There were approx. 9 minutes left from the first period. There was an upheaval in Partizan’s goalmouth, then the camera showed goalkeeper Trifonov laying on the rink with a Zvezda-player topping him, while a Partizan-defender (probably Srđan Ristić) threw himself into the way of the puck to keep it away from our goal line.
He succeeded.

The moment before the upheaval. Ristić raises his stick, while Krivov is arriving from the other side

After this we ruthlessly scored our second goal. Čuković was the goal scorer, assisted by Zhukov.

Hands up in the air...

...the entire bench is on their feet...

...Čuković arriving for high fiving

And this was just the beginning. In the 12th minute Ristić forwarded the puck to Ogrizović, Ogrizović wasted no time, shot and scored. 3:0!!!

Ogrizović with Luković behind him

Only 10 seconds were left from the first period when Vlasov scored our 4th goal, because it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Zvezda tried in the second period, too, without any success. Interesting that the 10th minute of the second part brought the first penalty. A Zvezda-player made Gabrić trip, he ended up sulking on the penalty bench for 2 minutes.

Komazec arrives at Partizan’s bench for a short rest

There were fights, but none of them ended up in a major battle

Mass scene at Partizan’s goalmouth

Then in the 11th minute Zubov scored our 5th goal.

For the end of the second period Zvezda got into double power-play but they couldn’t take advantage of it.

Brkušanin was one of the players who had to stay off the rink for two minutes

Penalty is over, Marko Brkušanin in da house

Anton Zhukov after the second period

Boban "Hitman" Čuković before the third period

Aleksa Luković (#13) is watching

Face-off before the 3rd period, Vlasov goes for the puck

Partizan-bench during the 3rd period: Aleksa Luković (#13) and Dragan Komazec (#15)

In the last part Zvezda switched to full speed to be able to score a goal. They were so successful about it, that Ogrizović scored our 6th goal in the 9th minute.
Bwahahahaha.

Ogrizović (25) almost falls into the box together with the puck...

...GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!!!!

Zvezda could finally score one single goal in the 14th minute, but it didn’t matter.
We won. And we could celebrate.

The third game will be on Sunday, from 17:30. If we win that game, we'll be the champions.
Here is the postscript: this (most probably) screenshot was uploaded to HK Partizan’s FB-page. Boban Čuković said thank you to the fans for the support.

"Thank you, Grave Diggers, for the utmost support. Together for the title!"

(source: Facebook/Hokejaški klub Partizan (Fan page))

Last but not least, massive ecstasy at the end of the match.

Лудница на хокеју! Победа црно-белих у трећој утакмици финала плеј-офа... Партизан - Ц. звезда 6:1

A video posted by Partizan is life (@partizanislife) on Mar 18, 2016 at 12:13pm PDT

HK Partizan - HK Vitez 13:2

Excuse me for being a bit down the course with the weekend events, but when you have two eternal derbies within two days, then Average Fan throws away hack, scythe (and keyboard) and focuses only on those games. Now I try to make up lost ground.
The ice hockey team had a smooth victory over HK Vitez, and we made it without Čuković and Raković, as they got suspended after that fuss last time.
After these we won the first period to 5:0.
In the second we relaxed a bit, allowing the opponent to score one goal

so they cannot say we hadn’t been hospitable

but we were leading at the end of the period to 6:1. Finally we completed the last one with 7:1.
Our two Russians, Zhukov and Vlasov carried the team on their back, but Captain Milovanović, Zubov, Brkušanin, Filipović, Komazec and Pavlović also took their part from this victory.

HK Partizan - Crvena Zvezda 2:3

We didn't deserve this defeat.
I swear someone up there surely hated Partizan constantly winning the championship title, so they ordered the referees to help Zvezda to achieve victory, by any means.

Why, how would YOU explain that three (!!!) of our players were excluded at a time?...

(photo: Twitter)

But let’s keep the chronological order.

Our boys come out to the rink

(screenshot)

We were sliding around, warming up

(screenshot)

(photo: Twitter)

They greeted the fans

(photo: Twitter)

High five and respect to those Grave Diggers who had been to Pionir Ice Hall to support the team. I have no infos about the number of Zvezda-fans being present, but Grobari were much louder than them.

The two teams clashed like two packs of roaring lions. Really. The first period brought an exciting, spectacular, great game. I wish everyone to watch such an ice-hockey match as this first period was.

(photo: Facebook/Hokej savez na ledu Srbije)

Seriously I wish everyone to experience this atmosphere.

Our goalkeeper Tikhonov was fantastic. This man saved the unsaveable. Zvezda got into double power play after 7 minutes and it all looked that they were waiting for this very moment. They made a brutal class-firing on our goal.
And Tikhonov saved.
Tikhonov saved everything. Sometimes Average Fan cried for defibrillator, but Tikhonov was like a fortress.

Make a statue of Tikhonov. NOW.

Around the end of the period we put Zvezda’s goal under pressure, but either they blocked our hits or we just missed them out. The first period ended with 0:0.
Teams entered the second period even more combative. Our dominance was clear, we had a row of chances and there were points when fight almost lashed out.
Zvezda had some chances, too, once they hit the puck twice to our goal, but both attempts were too wide

cardial arrest, cerebral haemorrhage, screaming

then Krivov blocked one of their attempts with a genious movement.
We continued the aggressive dominance. Here it looked so that Zvezda can be dangerous only when they are in power play.
They scored their first goal from power play, of course. What is more, it was a double power play. There were barely 4 minutes left from the period, when the referees sent off Zubov and Brkušanin. Novaković took advantage of our weakened defense and with an evil grin he hit and scored. 0:1

Was it just me or did Zvezda-players really push Partizan-players on the ice just for fun, even when our player was not in action? And needless to say, referees didn’t give a damn. But when Ristić pushed a Zvezda-player to the pale, he immediately got a 2-minute-penalty. It happened not just once.

Only 2 minutes and 20 seconds were left, when Zvezda scored their second goal. It was an exceptional goal, because all Partizan-players were on the rink. Popravka hit the puck from the distance and it flew next to Tikhonov and fell into the net. 0:2
Less than two minutes were left, when all that you could see was Filipović getting into a fight with a Zvezda-player (it looked as if the red one would have said something rude to our player), he had to be carried away by teammates (even a referee joined). A bit later Milovanović was literally bulldozed by the opponent, he even had to leave the rink for a short while.
Then at the end of the period, when players were about to go back to the locker-room, hell broke loose. It was FIGHT, it was PARTIZAN RIOT!

(photo: Twitter)

(screenshots)

There’s nothing better than hitting the opponent’s head with his own helmet.

The teams got a tough welcome-back in the third period. Raging Grave Diggers were booing, hissing and chanting the song "Grmi pesma sad sa južne strane", sending it to all Zvezda-players, with lots of love, possibly.
While on the rink the two opponents got into a bitter, rude fight. Then, barely 7 minutes passed, when Zubov scored our first goal from power play. 1:2

Meanwhile it got into my attention that there are at least 6, but rather 7 sponsor logos on Zvezda’s jersey. Telekom Srbija, Arenasport, Lasta and others, while Partizan had only Big Pizza as their official supporter. By the way, Big Pizza is an excellent pizzeria in Pančevo, if you are there, you must try it. Our captain Marko Milovanović is the owner of the place.

Only 2 minutes passed, Zvezda scored their 3rd goal, in power play, what else (Brkušanin was suspended). Hell almost broke loose again, Novaković and Vlasov started to hit each other.
The game was about to end soon, barely 7 minutes were left, when Ristić scored our second goal (2:3). From then on we attacked with full force. We definitely wanted to equalize. Less than 5 minutes were left, when Zvezda could finally build up an attack, but their player fell on the ice just in the very last moment, in our goalmouth. The slow motion replay showed a Partizan-stick suddenly appearing right in front of the Zvezda-player’s feet, then the red dude obediently fell and slid away on his butt. The referee whistled, penalty shoot.
Novaković got the puck. He slid, shot...
...AND TIKHONOV SAVED!!! My God, Tikhonov saved a penalty!!! What a save it was!!!
For the rest of the game we attacked, but eventually we couldn’t equalize.

(photos: Facebook/Savez hokeja na ledu Srbije)

After the game

(photos: Twitter)