HK Spišská Nová Ves retained the top spot in the Tipsport liga on October 9, 2026, overcoming a multi-goal deficit to defeat HC Prešov 5–4 at home after Xavier Cormier scored the game-winning goal on a third-period power play.
League leader Spišská Nová Ves faced the lowest-ranked team in the standings at the Tiposbet Arena in a Friday fixture that pushed the frontrunners to the brink. Spišská Nová Ves entered the ninth round leading the league with six wins from eight games and a 28:19 goal differential. Prešov arrived searching for its first victory of the 2026/27 season. Prešov remained winless through nine rounds despite a remarkable individual performance from forward Darren Archibald.
Archibald Gives Prešov an Early Two-Goal Lead
Archibald then struck himself just ten seconds before the first intermission, finishing a setup from Pennington to give the visitors a surprising 2–0 advantage.
Although the home side increased its offensive pressure in the second period, Archibald completed a hat trick in the middle frame to restore a two-goal cushion, sending the teams into the locker rooms with Prešov leading 4–2.
Bookmakers had listed the home side as heavy favorites with odds of 1.35 before faceoff, while Prešov looked to overcome their struggles as the club with the weakest defense and offense in the league. Prešov forward Michal Feranec recorded four points with one goal and three assists during the contest, and Archibald added an assist to his three goals.
Spišská Nová Ves Rallies in the Third Period
The home team overturned the deficit during a lopsided final period. Joona Jääskeläinen cut the margin to one goal in the 42nd minute before Pišoja tied the contest at 4–4 three minutes later.
Prešov deserves credit for how they played in the first period,
assistant coach Tibor Tartaľ told HokejPortal, adding, “I think we couldn’t cope with the fact that we are the leaders. The power play certainly helped us, because previously as much as we scored, we immediately conceded. That was draining our confidence. Sometimes it’s fun to coach a young team, but we showed character and found a way to get out of a difficult situation.”
What we were doing in the first two periods, we weren't doing in the third,
head coach Ryan Colville told HokejPortal. “We were losing pucks, we couldn’t get back into the zone quickly. We’re keeping pace with opponents, we’re playing close games, but it’s not enough. However, we have to understand that we have young forwards who need to learn how to play in such tough matches. In the final period, we should have closed out the match, but we didn’t do it.”
The decisive moment arrived during a power play in the 51st minute. Cormier finished an elaborate passing sequence with an easy conversion into an open net, sealing the 5–4 victory and keeping the team at the summit of the standings. Assistant coach Tibor Tartaľ noted that his young squad maintained patience after two periods and found a way out of a difficult situation despite initial struggles with their status as league leaders. Prešov coach Ryan Colville expressed frustration that his squad failed to close out the match after controlling the first forty minutes.
Spišská Nová Ves Maintains First Place
The dramatic victory allowed Spišská Nová Ves to maintain first place on goal differential over HC Slovan Bratislava, which defeated Banská Bystrica 6–2 behind a pair of goals from Liam Dmowski and early strikes from Ryan O’Connor and Lukáš Janča. Elsewhere in the league, third-placed Žilina shut out Liptovský Mikuláš 4–0 with two goals from Peter Repčík and a 40-save shutout by goaltender Roman Rychlík. Poprad defeated Michalovce 2–0 behind an empty-net or shutout effort featuring goaltender Július Hudáček.
| Team | Wins (Total/OT) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| HK Spišská Nová Ves | 7 (5 regulation, 2 OT) | 19 |
| HC Slovan Bratislava | 6 (6 regulation) | 19 |
| Vlci Žilina | 7 (5 regulation, 2 OT) | 17 |
| HC Košice | 6 (5 regulation, 1 OT) | 17 |