# 2023–24 Slovak Extraliga season

The 2023–24 Slovak Extraliga season was the 31st season of the Slovak Extraliga, the highest ice hockey league in Slovakia.

## Team changes

HC 19 Humenné are playing in the league for the first time after winning Slovak 1. Liga in the season 2022–23 in a best-of-seven playoff against Vlci Žilina.
HC MV Transport Prešov finished in the 2022–23 Slovak Extraliga season on the last 12th place and was relegated to a second highest ice hockey league in Slovakia.

## Regular season
### Standings

Each team played 50 games: playing each of the other eleven teams four times – 2x at home, 2x away (44 games) and during the Christmas holidays (22.12.2023 – 5.1.2024) each team played the inserted matches within the region 1x at home, 1x away = 6 games.
Points were awarded for each game, where three points are awarded for winning in regulation time, two points for winning in overtime or shootout, one point for losing in overtime or shootout, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finished with the most points was crowned the league champion.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Poprad | 50 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 163 | 119 | +44 | 94 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 2 | Michalovce | 50 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 167 | 121 | +46 | 90 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 3 | Spišská Nová Ves | 50 | 24 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 163 | 138 | +25 | 87 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 4 | Košice | 50 | 24 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 147 | 117 | +30 | 81 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 5 | Slovan Bratislava | 50 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 157 | 160 | −3 | 77 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 6 | Banská Bystrica | 50 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 151 | 172 | −21 | 76 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 7 | Zvolen | 50 | 19 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 165 | 160 | +5 | 76 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 8 | Nitra | 50 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 172 | 158 | +14 | 76 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 9 | Trenčín | 50 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 22 | 144 | 156 | −12 | 75 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 10 | Liptovský Mikuláš | 50 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 136 | 161 | −25 | 64 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 11 | Nové Zámky | 50 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 133 | 159 | −26 | 58 | |
| 12 | Humenné | 50 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 31 | 121 | 198 | −77 | 46 | Relegated to Slovak 1. Liga |
* 1 2 3 Bystrica 14 points, Zvolen 12, Nitra 10

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

The following shows the top ten players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Olivier Archambault | HK Spišská Nová Ves | 45 | 14 | 45 | 59 | +11 | 38 |
| Ryan Dmowski | HK Poprad | 44 | 30 | 27 | 57 | +29 | 44 |
| Samuel Buček | HK Nitra | 44 | 26 | 31 | 57 | −2 | 16 |
| Carter Turnbull | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 41 | 25 | 31 | 56 | +2 | 22 |
| Kaspars Daugaviņš | HK Dukla Michalovce | 48 | 11 | 43 | 54 | +14 | 20 |
| Matthew Wilkins | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 49 | 19 | 33 | 52 | +4 | 87 |
| Brent Gates | HK Nitra | 48 | 14 | 38 | 52 | +3 | 12 |
| Liam Pecararo | HC Slovan Bratislava | 46 | 17 | 31 | 48 | +16 | 30 |
| Igor Merezhko | HK Spišská Nová Ves | 49 | 10 | 38 | 48 | +27 | 14 |
| Robby Jackson | HK Nitra | 44 | 26 | 20 | 46 | +12 | 10 |

#### Leading goaltenders

The following shows the top ten goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Dominik Riečický | HC Košice | 24 | 1,287:06 | 13 | 11 | 41 | 3 | 93.64 | 1.91 |
| Ádám Vay | HK Poprad | 44 | 2,501:15 | 30 | 14 | 89 | 1 | 92.88 | 2.13 |
| Jaroslav Janus | HC Košice | 30 | 1,711:23 | 15 | 15 | 63 | 2 | 92.35 | 2.21 |
| Stanislav Škorvánek | HK Dukla Michalovce | 39 | 2,322:38 | 25 | 14 | 90 | 4 | 93.08 | 2.32 |
| Marcel Melicherčík | HK Spišská Nová Ves | 30 | 1,721:17 | 19 | 11 | 71 | 0 | 90.65 | 2.47 |
| Denis Godla | HC Slovan Bratislava | 30 | 1,744:44 | 19 | 11 | 79 | 2 | 91.51 | 2.72 |
| Gašper Krošelj | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 27 | 1,491:51 | 16 | 11 | 71 | 3 | 91.94 | 2.86 |
| Alexei Krasikov | HK 32 Liptovský Mikuláš | 49 | 2,756:14 | 21 | 28 | 132 | 1 | 90.69 | 2.87 |
| Connor LaCouvee | HK Dukla Trenčín | 40 | 2,282:28 | 20 | 20 | 110 | 3 | 91.52 | 2.89 |
| Pavel Kantor | HC Nové Zámky | 48 | 2,867:45 | 19 | 29 | 139 | 1 | 91.18 | 2.91 |

## Playoffs

Ten teams qualify for the playoffs: the top six teams in the regular season have a bye to the quarterfinals, while teams ranked seventh to tenth meet each other (7 versus 10, 8 versus 9) in a preliminary playoff round.

### Bracket

| Wild-card round (best-of-5) | Wild-card round (best-of-5) | Wild-card round (best-of-5) | Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Semi-finals (best-of-7) | Semi-finals (best-of-7) | Semi-finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) |
| | | | 3 | Spišská Nová Ves | 4 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Zvolen | 3 | 6 | Banská Bystrica | 0 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Liptovský Mikuláš | 2 | | | | 3 | Spišská Nová Ves | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Košice | 3 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Košice | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | 5 | Slovan Bratislava | 0 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 3 | Spišská Nová Ves | 0 |
| | | | | | | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | 8 | Nitra | 4 |
| | | | 2 | Michalovce | 4 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| 8 | Nitra | 3 | 7 | Zvolen | 1 | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second round) | | | |
| 9 | Trenčín | 2 | | | | 2 | Michalovce | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | 8 | Nitra | 4 | | | |
| | | | 1 | Poprad | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Nitra | 4 | | | | | | |

### Wild card round

Zvolen – Liptovský Mikuláš 3–2 :
| 11.3.2024 | Zvolen | Liptovský Mikuláš | 2-3 OT |
| 12.3.2024 | Zvolen | Liptovský Mikuláš | 7-6 OT |
| 14.3.2024 | Liptovský Mikuláš | Zvolen | 4-7 |
| 15.3.2024 | Liptovský Mikuláš | Zvolen | 5-1 |
| 17.3.2024 | Zvolen | Liptovský Mikuláš | 6-2 |
| Zvolen won the series 3–2. ||||
Nitra – Trenčín 3–2 :
| 11.3.2024 | Nitra | Trenčín | 5-2 |
| 12.3.2024 | Nitra | Trenčín | 3-4 |
| 14.3.2024 | Trenčín | Nitra | 3-2 |
| 15.3.2024 | Trenčín | Nitra | 4-5 |
| 17.3.2024 | Nitra | Trenčín | 5-1 |
| Nitra won the series 3–2. ||||

### Quarterfinals

Poprad – Nitra 2–4 :
| 20.3.2024 | Poprad | Nitra | 3-1 |
| 21.3.2024 | Poprad | Nitra | 1-5 |
| 24.3.2024 | Nitra | Poprad | 0-2 |
| 25.3.2024 | Nitra | Poprad | 2-1 SO |
| 27.3.2024 | Poprad | Nitra | 3-4 |
| 29.3.2024 | Nitra | Poprad | 2-0 |
| Nitra won the series 4–2. ||||
Spišská Nová Ves – Banská Bystrica 4–0 :
| 18.3.2024 | Spišská Nová Ves | Banská Bystrica | 3-2 OT |
| 19.3.2024 | Spišská Nová Ves | Banská Bystrica | 4-2 |
| 22.3.2024 | Banská Bystrica | Spišská Nová Ves | 3-4 OT |
| 23.3.2024 | Banská Bystrica | Spišská Nová Ves | 3-6 |
| Spišská Nová Ves won the series 4–0. ||||
Michalovce – Zvolen 4–1 :
| 20.3.2024 | Michalovce | Zvolen | 5-0 |
| 21.3.2024 | Michalovce | Zvolen | 5-1 |
| 24.3.2024 | Zvolen | Michalovce | 2-6 |
| 25.3.2024 | Zvolen | Michalovce | 3-2 |
| 27.3.2024 | Michalovce | Zvolen | 3-1 |
| Michalovce won the series 4–1. ||||
Košice – Slovan Bratislava 4–0 :
| 18.3.2024 | Košice | Slovan Bratislava | 6-2 |
| 19.3.2024 | Košice | Slovan Bratislava | 5-4 |
| 22.3.2024 | Slovan Bratislava | Košice | 3-5 |
| 23.3.2024 | Slovan Bratislava | Košice | 2-4 |
| Košice won the series 4–0. ||||

### Semifinals

Michalovce – Nitra 2–4 :
| 3.4.2024 | Michalovce | Nitra | 2-3 |
| 4.4.2024 | Michalovce | Nitra | 2-8 |
| 7.4.2024 | Nitra | Michalovce | 4-7 |
| 8.4.2024 | Nitra | Michalovce | 5-1 |
| 11.4.2024 | Michalovce | Nitra | 5-2 |
| 13.4.2024 | Nitra | Michalovce | 4-3 OT |
| Nitra won the series 4–2. ||||
Spišská Nová Ves – Košice 4–3 :
| 5.4.2024 | Spišská Nová Ves | Košice | 5-4 OT |
| 6.4.2024 | Spišská Nová Ves | Košice | 4-0 |
| 9.4.2024 | Košice | Spišská Nová Ves | 6-2 |
| 10.4.2024 | Košice | Spišská Nová Ves | 4-2 |
| 12.4.2024 | Spišská Nová Ves | Košice | 4-3 OT2 |
| 14.4.2024 | Košice | Spišská Nová Ves | 4-1 |
| 16.4.2024 | Spišská Nová Ves | Košice | 2-1 |
| Spišská Nová Ves won the series 4–3. ||||

### Finals
## Final rankings

| | Nitra |
| | Spišská Nová Ves |
| | Michalovce |
| 4 | Košice |
| 5 | Poprad |
| 6 | Slovan Bratislava |
| 7 | Banská Bystrica |
| 8 | Zvolen |
| 9 | Trenčín |
| 10 | Liptovský Mikuláš |
| 11 | Nové Zámky |
| 12 | Humenné |