Zilina vs Dukla Trencin

Dukla Trenčín struck first. At 05:54, Lukáš Lunter tucked in the rebound after Kristián Rezničák's shot was kicked out by Žilina goalie Andrej Košarišťan, converting the game's first power play (assists: Rezničák, Samuel Krajč).

Žilina responded through Patrik Koyš at 11:40, who finished a sharp pass from Peter Cehlárik with a wrist shot past Patrik Hrenák to make it 1-1.

But Trenčín hit twice in quick succession. Kristián Rezničák broke in alone on a feed from Lukáš Lunter and beat Košarišťan at 14:31, and Andrej Hatala ripped a one-timer from the face-off dot at 19:37 after Travis Barron set him up, giving the visitors a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.

The match turned early in the second period. Trenčín took overlapping penalties — Jérémie Descheneau (slashing) and Juraj Mikuš (illegal equipment) at 21:31 — gifting Žilina a 5-on-3 advantage for nearly two minutes.

Kamil Walega buried it at 23:05, snapping a shot through Hrenák's pads from the slot after Cehlárik found him from behind the net (assists: Cehlárik, Peter Repčík). That cut the gap to 2-3 and shifted momentum decisively.

Žilina kept pressing and equalised at 34:27. Šimon Petráš chipped the puck toward the net from behind the goal-line, and it deflected off a Trenčín defender and in (assists: Walega, Marek Korenčík). The period ended 3-3.

Patrik Koyš (Žilina) — Two goals, including the empty-net clincher at 59:11. His first-period equaliser steadied Žilina after Trenčín's early pressure.

Kamil Walega (Žilina) — One goal and one primary assist. His 5-on-3 power-play goal was the catalyst for Žilina's comeback.

Peter Cehlárik (Žilina) — Two primary assists, both in the first 24 minutes. The former NHL forward (Boston, Edmonton) orchestrated Žilina's first two goals.

Lukáš Lunter (Trenčín) — One goal and one assist in the first period as Trenčín built their lead.

Both sides finished with six penalties for 12 PIM each, and each scored one power-play goal. But the distribution tells the story: Trenčín converted theirs in the first period to build a 3-1 lead, while Žilina's came on the crucial 5-on-3 that started their comeback. The shot counts from the HockeySlovakia official stats are not fully populated for pre-season matches, but the period scoring gap — Trenčín 3-1 in P1, Žilina 2-0 in both P2 and P3 — shows a complete role reversal after the first intermission.

Attendance of 1,418 in the 6,200-capacity Tipsport aréna reflected the pre-season setting, but the intensity of the comeback suggested competitive readiness from both sides ahead of the new Tipos extraliga season.

Žilina (Vlci) finished their pre-season schedule with a come-from-behind win, showing resilience after a rocky first period. Dukla Trenčín, coached by Canadian Todd Woodcroft, will assess a promising first 20 minutes undone by discipline issues — two overlapping penalties that directly produced the game-changing 5-on-3 goal.

Both sides continue their pre-season preparations for the 2026-27 Tipos extraliga season, which starts in September.

A game of two stories: Trenčín's efficient first period undone by penalty trouble, and Žilina's composed response led by experienced heads Cehlárik and Walega. The 5-3 scoreline flattered the closeness of the contest — after the 23-minute mark, Žilina were the better side.