BRATISLAVA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The first round of the Slovak Tipos Extraliga playoffs saw HC Slovan Bratislava show no mercy against HK Nitra, triumphing 5-0 and HK Poprad edge out HC 07 Detva 6-3 in a scoring fest on Wednesday.

Although Bratislava and Nitra finished the regular season fourth and fifth in the final standings, their first play-off encounter was far from evenly matched. The home team's American goalie Tyler Parks erased all 23 shots on goal by Nitra and finished the night with a rare playoff shutout.

On the other hand, Slovan managed to score five times with five different shooters to take a sovereign upper-hand in the series. The man-advantage plays turned out to be decisive as three pucks landed in Nitra's goal during Bratislava's powerplays and one when the home team was shorthanded.

A lot more thrill offered the duel between HK Poprad and HC 07 Detva. The home team, placing third after the regular season, started strong with two first-period goals. Detva, the sixth team of the standings, managed to tie the game early in the second period, which turned into a wild scoring-party as Poprad retook the lead shortly after, Detva tied it again, and Poprad went ahead once more, 4-3.

David Skokan's second goal of the night in the 16th minute of the final outing brought the deciding two-goal lead and the Tipos Extraliga's most productive player in the regular season Marcel Hascak set the final score to 6-3 for Poprad on an empty-netter in the final minute. Detva's scoring department was dominated by its Russian forward Maxim Askarov, who authored two goals and assisted on the third. Enditem

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