# 2018–19 Slovak Extraliga season

The 2018–19 Slovak Extraliga season was the 26th season of the Slovak Extraliga, the highest level of ice hockey in Slovakia. HK Orange 20 is a project to prepare the Slovakia junior ice hockey team for the IIHF World U20 Championship. The team does not play a complete regular season and cannot advance to the playoffs or get relegated. Since the 2018–19 season, the league also includes two teams from Hungary.

## Regular season
### Standings

Each team played 55 games, playing each of the other eleven teams five times. 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 finishes with the most points was crowned the league champion.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Banská Bystrica | 57 | 32 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 196 | 139 | +57 | 115 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 2 | Zvolen | 57 | 30 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 193 | 128 | +65 | 111 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 3 | Nitra | 57 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 217 | 138 | +79 | 110 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 4 | Košice | 57 | 32 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 190 | 135 | +55 | 109 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 5 | Poprad | 57 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 168 | 147 | +21 | 102 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 6 | Trenčín | 57 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 21 | 152 | 131 | +21 | 93 | Qualification to Quarter-finals |
| 7 | Nové Zámky | 57 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 142 | 130 | +12 | 92 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 8 | Miskolc | 57 | 22 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 147 | 151 | −4 | 87 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 9 | Budapest | 57 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 29 | 158 | 197 | −39 | 66 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 10 | Detva | 57 | 16 | 3 | 8 | 30 | 149 | 198 | −49 | 62 | Qualification to Wild card round |
| 11 | Liptovský Mikuláš | 57 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 35 | 129 | 178 | −49 | 58 | |
| 12 | Žilina | 57 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 34 | 151 | 222 | −71 | 52 | Qualification to Relegation playoffs |
| | HK Orange 20 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 30 | 128 | −98 | 2 | |

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in points, at the conclusion of the regular season.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Éric Faille | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 52 | 24 | 48 | 72 | +7 | 36 |
| Michal Chovan | HKm Zvolen | 56 | 20 | 48 | 68 | +16 | 34 |
| Ladislav Nagy | HC Košice | 48 | 34 | 27 | 61 | +25 | 28 |
| Brock Higgs | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 42 | 24 | 35 | 59 | +19 | 28 |
| Róbert Lantoši | HK Nitra | 56 | 20 | 38 | 58 | +17 | 12 |
| Guillaume Asselin | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 55 | 29 | 26 | 55 | +4 | 68 |
| Patrik Svitana | HK Poprad | 56 | 19 | 33 | 52 | +18 | 16 |
| Samuel Buček | HK Nitra | 53 | 30 | 21 | 51 | +26 | 20 |
| Bálint Magosi | DVTK Jegesmedvék | 57 | 27 | 22 | 49 | +16 | 48 |
| Rastislav Špirko | HKm Zvolen | 48 | 18 | 31 | 49 | +15 | 8 |

#### Leading goaltenders

The following goaltenders 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 | T | L | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Ádám Vay | DVTK Jegesmedvék | 31 | 1886:22 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 58 | 7 | 94.85 | 1.84 |
| Michal Valent | HK Dukla Trenčín | 49 | 2887:33 | 22 | 10 | 17 | 97 | 2 | 92.58 | 2.02 |
| Mackenzie Skapski | HKm Zvolen | 33 | 1916:31 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 68 | 4 | 92.80 | 2.13 |
| Tomáš Tomek | HKm Zvolen | 26 | 1529:42 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 55 | 5 | 92.48 | 2.16 |
| Stephon Williams | HC '05 Banská Bystrica | 43 | 2493:23 | 24 | 10 | 9 | 91 | 2 | 91.85 | 2.19 |
| Vladislav Habal | HC Košice | 44 | 2590:36 | 25 | 7 | 12 | 96 | 5 | 93.22 | 2.22 |
| Andrej Košarišťan | HC Nové Zámky | 47 | 2790:01 | 19 | 9 | 19 | 105 | 6 | 93.30 | 2.26 |
| Juraj Šimboch | HK Nitra | 39 | 2208:20 | 22 | 7 | 10 | 85 | 2 | 92.09 | 2.31 |
| Tomáš Vošvrda | HK Poprad | 38 | 2225:10 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 90 | 5 | 93.11 | 2.43 |
| Bence Bálizs | MAC Budapest | 32 | 1825:19 | 10 | 7 | 16 | 86 | 3 | 91.63 | 2.83 |

## Relegation series

Relegation series played between MsHK Žilina, the 12th team in regular season, and HK Dukla Michalovce, the winner of 1.liga. The winner of best-of-seven series played in Extraliga in 2019–20 season.

### PlayOut

Michalovce wins the series 4-3 and will play in 2019–20 Slovak Extraliga season

## 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 | Banská Bystrica | 4 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Nové Zámky | 1 | 10 | Detva | 1 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Detva | 3 | | | | 1 | Banská Bystrica | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Poprad | 2 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Košice | 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) | | | |
| | | | 5 | Poprad | 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 | Banská Bystrica | 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 | Nitra | 1 |
| | | | 2 | 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 | Miskolc | 0 | 9 | Budapest | 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 | Budapest | 3 | | | | 2 | Zvolen | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Nitra | 4 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Nitra | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Trenčín | 2 | | | | | | |

### Wild card round

Nové Zámky – Detva 1-3 :
| 1.3.2019 | Nové Zámky | Detva | 4-2 |
| 2.3.2019 | Nové Zámky | Detva | 3-4 OT1 |
| 4.3.2019 | Detva | Nové Zámky | 4-2 |
| 5.3.2019 | Detva | Nové Zámky | 2-1 |
| Detva wins the series 3-1. ||||
Miskolc – Budapest 0-3 :
| 1.3.2019 | Miskolc | Budapest | 1-3 |
| 2.3.2019 | Miskolc | Budapest | 2-3 OT1 |
| 4.3.2019 | Budapest | Miskolc | 4-2 |
| Budapest wins the series 3-0. ||||

### Quarter-finals

Banská Bystrica – Detva 4-1 :
| 9.3.2019 | Banská Bystrica | Detva | 5-0 |
| 10.3.2019 | Banská Bystrica | Detva | 2-4 |
| 13.3.2019 | Detva | Banská Bystrica | 0-1 OT1 |
| 14.3.2019 | Detva | Banská Bystrica | 0-3 |
| 17.3.2019 | Banská Bystrica | Detva | 4-0 |
| Banská Bystrica wins the series 4-1. ||||
Nitra – Trenčín 4-2 :
| 11.3.2019 | Nitra | Trenčín | 2-3 OT1 |
| 12.3.2019 | Nitra | Trenčín | 4-1 |
| 15.3.2019 | Trenčín | Nitra | 5-3 |
| 16.3.2019 | Trenčín | Nitra | 1-4 |
| 18.3.2019 | Nitra | Trenčín | 2-0 |
| 20.3.2019 | Trenčín | Nitra | 0-2 |
| Nitra wins the series 4-2. ||||
Zvolen – Budapest 4-1 :
| 9.3.2019 | Zvolen | Budapest | 4-0 |
| 10.3.2019 | Zvolen | Budapest | 3-2 SO |
| 13.3.2019 | Budapest | Zvolen | 1-2 |
| 14.3.2019 | Budapest | Zvolen | 2-0 |
| 17.3.2019 | Zvolen | Budapest | 3-1 |
| Zvolen wins the series 4-1. ||||
Košice – Poprad 2-4 :
| 11.3.2019 | Košice | Poprad | 2-3 |
| 12.3.2019 | Košice | Poprad | 1-2 OT1 |
| 15.3.2019 | Poprad | Košice | 4-2 |
| 16.3.2019 | Poprad | Košice | 1-5 |
| 18.3.2019 | Košice | Poprad | 4-3 OT1 |
| 20.3.2019 | Poprad | Košice | 4-2 |
| Poprad wins the series 4-2. ||||

### Semi-finals

Banská Bystrica – Poprad 4-2 :
| 23.3.2019 | Banská Bystrica | Poprad | 5-4 |
| 24.3.2019 | Banská Bystrica | Poprad | 4-3 |
| 27.3.2019 | Poprad | Banská Bystrica | 3-0 |
| 28.3.2019 | Poprad | Banská Bystrica | 2-1 SO |
| 31.3.2019 | Banská Bystrica | Poprad | 2-1 |
| 2.4.2019 | Poprad | Banská Bystrica | 0-2 |
| Banská Bystrica wins the series 4-2. ||||
Zvolen – Nitra 3-4 :
| 25.3.2019 | Zvolen | Nitra | 2-4 |
| 26.3.2019 | Zvolen | Nitra | 3-2 OT1 |
| 29.3.2019 | Nitra | Zvolen | 3-1 |
| 30.3.2019 | Nitra | Zvolen | 1-2 |
| 1.4.2019 | Zvolen | Nitra | 2-3 |
| 3.4.2019 | Nitra | Zvolen | 1-4 |
| 5.4.2019 | Zvolen | Nitra | 1-4 |
| Nitra wins the series 4-3. ||||

### Finals
## Final rankings

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