# 2022–23 Slovak Extraliga season

The 2022–23 Slovak Extraliga season was the 30th season of the Slovak Extraliga, the 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 (20.12.2022 – 4.1.2023) 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 | Košice | 50 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 163 | 114 | +49 | 96 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 2 | Slovan Bratislava | 50 | 27 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 162 | 115 | +47 | 93 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 3 | Zvolen | 50 | 24 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 168 | 141 | +27 | 87 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 4 | Banská Bystrica | 50 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 20 | 147 | 156 | −9 | 79 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 5 | Spišská Nová Ves | 50 | 21 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 146 | 144 | +2 | 79 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 6 | Nové Zámky | 50 | 21 | 6 | 2 | 21 | 143 | 132 | +11 | 77 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 7 | Poprad | 50 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 21 | 151 | 153 | −2 | 72 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 8 | Michalovce | 50 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 124 | 129 | −5 | 72 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 9 | Trenčín | 50 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 130 | 155 | −25 | 68 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 10 | Nitra | 50 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 26 | 125 | 157 | −32 | 61 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 11 | Liptovský Mikuláš | 50 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 124 | 149 | −25 | 61 | |
| 12 | Prešov | 50 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 25 | 129 | 167 | −38 | 55 | Relegated to Slovak 1. Liga |

### 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 |
| Max Gerlach | HC 21 Prešov | 50 | 34 | 25 | 59 | +8 | 26 |
| Brant Harris | HC Slovan Bratislava | 48 | 29 | 27 | 56 | +17 | 26 |
| Robby Jackson | HC Nové Zámky | 49 | 30 | 21 | 51 | +16 | 10 |
| Liam Pecararo | HC Slovan Bratislava | 50 | 25 | 25 | 50 | +22 | 36 |
| Mike Huntebrinker | HKM Zvolen | 50 | 13 | 37 | 50 | +15 | 43 |
| Joona Jääskeläinen | HC Košice | 47 | 22 | 23 | 45 | −11 | 16 |
| Austin Farley | HC Nové Zámky | 48 | 15 | 30 | 45 | +10 | 47 |
| Kale Kerbashian | HK Spišská Nová Ves | 46 | 20 | 24 | 44 | −3 | 10 |
| Tomáš Záborský | HK Poprad | 50 | 20 | 24 | 44 | −5 | 14 |
| Branden Troock | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 44 | 29 | 14 | 43 | +6 | 47 |

#### 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 matches played on 20 January 2023.
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Jaroslav Janus | HC Košice | 16 | 865:48 | 11 | 5 | 27 | 1 | 93.48 | 1.87 |
| Jared Coreau | HC Slovan Bratislava | 25 | 1486:23 | 17 | 8 | 47 | 6 | 93.90 | 1.90 |
| Stanislav Škorvánek | HK Dukla Michalovce | 22 | 1305:10 | 12 | 10 | 49 | 1 | 93.35 | 2.25 |
| Dominik Riečický | HC Košice | 19 | 930:14 | 10 | 9 | 37 | 1 | 91.76 | 2.39 |
| Pavel Kantor | HC Nové Zámky | 37 | 2218:30 | 20 | 17 | 89 | 1 | 93.04 | 2.41 |
| Adam Trenčan | HKM Zvolen | 25 | 1457:21 | 17 | 8 | 61 | 4 | 92.08 | 2.51 |
| Anthony Peters | HK Poprad | 28 | 1635:46 | 16 | 12 | 69 | 1 | 91.82 | 2.53 |
| Connor LaCouvee | HK Dukla Trenčín | 29 | 1644:13 | 13 | 16 | 71 | 3 | 92.90 | 2.59 |
| Marcel Melicherčík | HK Spišská Nová Ves | 29 | 1729:46 | 15 | 14 | 76 | 1 | 90.98 | 2.64 |
| Michal Valent | MHk 32 Liptovský Mikuláš | 33 | 1727:57 | 13 | 20 | 80 | 3 | 90.85 | 2.78 |

## 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 | Košice | 4 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Poprad | 0 | 10 | Nitra | 1 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Nitra | 3 | | | | 1 | Košice | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 8 | Michalovce | 3 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Slovan Bratislava | 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) | | | |
| | | | 8 | 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) | | | |
| | | | | | | (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 | 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) | 3 | Zvolen | 1 |
| | | | 3 | 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) | | | |
| 8 | Michalovce | 3 | 6 | Nové Zámky | 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 | | | | 3 | Zvolen | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Spišská Nová Ves | 3 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Banská Bystrica | 3 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Spišská Nová Ves | 4 | | | | | | |

### Wild card round

Poprad – Nitra 0–3 :
| 8.3.2023 | Poprad | Nitra | 1-2 |
| 9.3.2023 | Poprad | Nitra | 1-2 |
| 11.3.2023 | Nitra | Poprad | 2-0 |
| Nitra won the series 3–0. ||||
Michalovce – Trenčín 3–2 :
| 8.3.2023 | Michalovce | Trenčín | 2-1 |
| 9.3.2023 | Michalovce | Trenčín | 4-6 |
| 11.3.2023 | Trenčín | Michalovce | 2-0 |
| 12.3.2023 | Trenčín | Michalovce | 2-3 |
| 14.3.2023 | Michalovce | Trenčín | 2-1 |
| Michalovce won the series 3–2. ||||

### Quarterfinals

Košice – Nitra 4–1 :
| 17.3.2023 | Košice | Nitra | 5-2 |
| 18.3.2023 | Košice | Nitra | 4-3 SO |
| 21.3.2023 | Nitra | Košice | 5-2 |
| 22.3.2023 | Nitra | Košice | 1-2 |
| 24.3.2023 | Košice | Nitra | 4-2 |
| Košice won the series 4–1. ||||
Zvolen – Nové Zámky 4–1 :
| 15.3.2023 | Zvolen | Nové Zámky | 4-3 OT |
| 16.3.2023 | Zvolen | Nové Zámky | 4-3 OT |
| 19.3.2023 | Nové Zámky | Zvolen | 5-2 |
| 20.3.2023 | Nové Zámky | Zvolen | 2-4 |
| 23.3.2023 | Zvolen | Nové Zámky | 5-2 |
| Zvolen won the series 4–1. ||||
Slovan Bratislava – Michalovce 2–4 :
| 17.3.2023 | Slovan Bratislava | Michalovce | 5-2 |
| 18.3.2023 | Slovan Bratislava | Michalovce | 2-3 OT |
| 21.3.2023 | Michalovce | Slovan Bratislava | 3-2 OT |
| 22.3.2023 | Michalovce | Slovan Bratislava | 3-1 |
| 24.3.2023 | Slovan Bratislava | Michalovce | 4-0 |
| 26.3.2023 | Michalovce | Slovan Bratislava | 3-0 |
| Michalovce won the series 4–2. ||||
Banská Bystrica – Spišská Nová Ves 3–4 :
| 15.3.2023 | Banská Bystrica | Spišská Nová Ves | 3-2 |
| 16.3.2023 | Banská Bystrica | Spišská Nová Ves | 0-6 |
| 19.3.2023 | Spišská Nová Ves | Banská Bystrica | 2-5 |
| 20.3.2023 | Spišská Nová Ves | Banská Bystrica | 2-0 |
| 23.3.2023 | Banská Bystrica | Spišská Nová Ves | 4-1 |
| 25.3.2023 | Spišská Nová Ves | Banská Bystrica | 4-2 |
| 27.3.2023 | Banská Bystrica | Spišská Nová Ves | 2-3 OT |
| Spišská Nová Ves won the series 4–3. ||||

### Semifinals

Košice – Michalovce 4–3 :
| 31.3.2023 | Košice | Michalovce | 3-1 |
| 1.4.2023 | Košice | Michalovce | 2-0 |
| 4.4.2023 | Michalovce | Košice | 3-2 |
| 5.4.2023 | Michalovce | Košice | 4-1 |
| 8.4.2023 | Košice | Michalovce | 2-3 OT2 |
| 10.4.2023 | Michalovce | Košice | 1-2 |
| 12.4.2023 | Košice | Michalovce | 3-1 |
| Košice won the series 4–3. ||||
Zvolen – Spišská Nová Ves 4–3 :
| 2.4.2023 | Zvolen | Spišská Nová Ves | 2-4 |
| 3.4.2023 | Zvolen | Spišská Nová Ves | 2-1 SO |
| 6.4.2023 | Spišská Nová Ves | Zvolen | 3-1 |
| 7.4.2023 | Spišská Nová Ves | Zvolen | 1-3 |
| 9.4.2023 | Zvolen | Spišská Nová Ves | 5-6 |
| 11.4.2023 | Spišská Nová Ves | Zvolen | 0-3 |
| 13.4.2023 | Zvolen | Spišská Nová Ves | 3-2 |
| Zvolen won the series 4–3. ||||

### Finals
## Final rankings

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