# 2020–21 Slovak Extraliga season

The 2020–21 Slovak Extraliga season was the 28th season of the Slovak Extraliga, the highest ice hockey league in Slovakia. The league also includes one team from Hungary.

## Team changes

After two seasons in Slovak Extraliga, the Hungarian team MAC Budapest left the league to participate in the Erste Liga. The reason for this decision was the uncertain financial situation, as the Hungarian government has suspended subsidies for sports clubs due to the coronavirus pandemic and MAC is also having difficulties finding other sponsors.

## 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 (22.12.2020 – 6.1.2021) 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 were 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 | Zvolen | 50 | 27 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 179 | 125 | +54 | 103 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 2 | Michalovce | 50 | 27 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 155 | 113 | +42 | 99 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 3 | Poprad | 50 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 186 | 133 | +53 | 95 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 4 | Slovan Bratislava | 50 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 146 | 115 | +31 | 94 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 5 | Nitra | 50 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 163 | 156 | +7 | 89 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 6 | Detva | 50 | 22 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 156 | 144 | +12 | 80 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 7 | Trenčín | 50 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 169 | 134 | +35 | 79 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 8 | Košice | 50 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 20 | 148 | 128 | +20 | 75 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 9 | Nové Zámky | 50 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 23 | 132 | 140 | −8 | 61 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 10 | Banská Bystrica | 50 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 26 | 135 | 171 | −36 | 57 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 11 | Miskolc | 50 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 28 | 118 | 181 | −63 | 47 | |
| 12 | Liptovský Mikuláš | 50 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 105 | 252 | −147 | 18 | |

## 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 |
| Marcel Haščák | HK Poprad | 48 | 38 | 31 | 69 | +18 | 24 |
| Patrik Svitana | HK Poprad | 49 | 20 | 36 | 56 | +21 | 22 |
| Michal Chovan | HC Košice | 45 | 12 | 44 | 56 | +8 | 22 |
| Marek Tvrdoň | HK Nitra | 50 | 23 | 31 | 54 | −3 | 64 |
| Dávid Skokan | HK Poprad | 49 | 18 | 34 | 52 | +29 | 107 |
| Carl Ackered | HK Dukla Trenčín | 50 | 17 | 35 | 52 | +8 | 34 |
| Radovan Bondra | HKM Zvolen | 49 | 26 | 25 | 51 | +24 | 83 |
| Marek Slovák | HK Nitra | 50 | 18 | 31 | 49 | +8 | 46 |
| Mikko Nuutinen | HKM Zvolen | 49 | 18 | 31 | 49 | +11 | 72 |
| Pavel Klhůfek | HC Košice | 47 | 31 | 17 | 48 | +13 | 58 |

### 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 |
| Tyler Parks | HC Slovan Bratislava | 24 | 1400:32 | 18 | 6 | 40 | 5 | 93.97 | 1.71 |
| Tomáš Tomek | HK Dukla Michalovce | 43 | 2479:52 | 28 | 15 | 86 | 4 | 92.82 | 2.08 |
| Dominik Riečický | HC Košice | 23 | 1180:56 | 10 | 13 | 45 | 2 | 92.46 | 2.29 |
| Robin Rahm | HKM Zvolen | 41 | 2487:49 | 27 | 14 | 98 | 1 | 92.14 | 2.36 |
| Henri Kiviaho | HC Nové Zámky | 43 | 2609:55 | 18 | 25 | 113 | 2 | 91.51 | 2.60 |
| Tomáš Vošvrda | HK Poprad | 41 | 2409:16 | 26 | 15 | 105 | 2 | 90.81 | 2.61 |
| Jakub Sedláček | HC Košice | 23 | 1288:51 | 13 | 10 | 57 | 2 | 90.98 | 2.65 |
| Filip Belányi | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 25 | 1396:39 | 12 | 13 | 63 | 2 | 91.04 | 2.71 |
| Roman Petrík | HC 07 Detva | 22 | 1193:40 | 12 | 10 | 54 | 2 | 92.33 | 2.71 |
| Tomas Sholl | HC 07 Detva | 22 | 1245:22 | 11 | 11 | 58 | 1 | 92.86 | 2.79 |

## 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) |
| | | | 1 | Zvolen | 4 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Košice | 1 | 9 | Nové Zámky | 0 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Nové Zámky | 3 | | | | 1 | Zvolen | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Slovan Bratislava | 1 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Slovan Bratislava | 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 | Nitra | 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) | | | |
| | | | | | | (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) | 1 | Zvolen | 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) | 3 | Poprad | 1 |
| | | | 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) | | | |
| 7 | Trenčín | 3 | 7 | Trenčín | 2 | (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) | | | |
| 10 | Banská Bystrica | 1 | | | | 2 | Michalovce | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Poprad | 4 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Poprad | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Detva | 0 | | | | | | |

### Wild card round

Trenčín – Banská Bystrica 3–1 :
| 24.3.2021 | Trenčín | Banská Bystrica | 4-3 SO |
| 25.3.2021 | Trenčín | Banská Bystrica | 4-1 |
| 27.3.2021 | Banská Bystrica | Trenčín | 2-1 OT1 |
| 28.3.2021 | Banská Bystrica | Trenčín | 2-3 OT1 |
| Trenčín won the series 3–1. ||||
Košice – Nové Zámky 1–3 :
| 24.3.2021 | Košice | Nové Zámky | 4-1 |
| 25.3.2021 | Košice | Nové Zámky | 1-2 |
| 27.3.2021 | Nové Zámky | Košice | 5-1 |
| 28.3.2021 | Nové Zámky | Košice | 3-1 |
| Nové Zámky won the series 3–1. ||||

### Quarterfinals

Zvolen – Nové Zámky 4–0 :
| 2.4.2021 | Zvolen | Nové Zámky | 3-2 |
| 3.4.2021 | Zvolen | Nové Zámky | 4-1 |
| 6.4.2021 | Nové Zámky | Zvolen | 2-4 |
| 7.4.2021 | Nové Zámky | Zvolen | 3-6 |
| Zvolen won the series 4–0. ||||
Poprad – Detva 4–0 :
| 31.3.2021 | Poprad | Detva | 6-3 |
| 1.4.2021 | Poprad | Detva | 4-3 |
| 4.4.2021 | Detva | Poprad | 1-2 |
| 5.4.2021 | Detva | Poprad | 1-3 |
| Poprad won the series 4–0. ||||
Michalovce – Trenčín 4–2 :
| 2.4.2021 | Michalovce | Trenčín | 5-4 |
| 3.4.2021 | Michalovce | Trenčín | 2-4 |
| 6.4.2021 | Trenčín | Michalovce | 1-2 |
| 7.4.2021 | Trenčín | Michalovce | 4-5 |
| 9.4.2021 | Michalovce | Trenčín | 1-3 |
| 11.4.2021 | Trenčín | Michalovce | 1-2 OT1 |
| Michalovce won the series 4–2. ||||
Slovan Bratislava – Nitra 4–1 :
| 31.3.2021 | Slovan Bratislava | Nitra | 5-0 |
| 1.4.2021 | Slovan Bratislava | Nitra | 4-1 |
| 4.4.2021 | Nitra | Slovan Bratislava | 2-3 |
| 5.4.2021 | Nitra | Slovan Bratislava | 8-2 |
| 8.4.2021 | Slovan Bratislava | Nitra | 5-1 |
| Slovan Bratislava won the series 4–1. ||||

### Semifinals

Zvolen – Slovan Bratislava 4–1 :
| 13.4.2021 | Zvolen | Slovan Bratislava | 3-2 SO |
| 14.4.2021 | Zvolen | Slovan Bratislava | 2-3 OT1 |
| 17.4.2021 | Slovan Bratislava | Zvolen | 2-5 |
| 18.4.2021 | Slovan Bratislava | Zvolen | 2-4 |
| 21.4.2021 | Zvolen | Slovan Bratislava | 2-1 OT1 |
| Zvolen won the series 4–1. ||||
Michalovce – Poprad 2–4 :
| 15.4.2021 | Michalovce | Poprad | 3-1 |
| 16.4.2021 | Michalovce | Poprad | 3-2 SO |
| 19.4.2021 | Poprad | Michalovce | 2-1 |
| 20.4.2021 | Poprad | Michalovce | 5-2 |
| 22.4.2021 | Michalovce | Poprad | 2-3 OT1 |
| 24.4.2021 | Poprad | Michalovce | 3-1 |
| Poprad won the series 4–2. ||||

### Finals
## Final rankings

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