In his first game of any type this season, exhibition or otherwise, 23-year-old Minnesota Wild prospect Samuel Hlavaj stopped 29 of 30 Austrian shots, helping Slovakia to a key 2-1 win in Olympic qualifying action.

“I think it was a pretty tough game for everybody here because it was the first game of the season,” Hlavaj said after the game. “Especially for me because I didn’t have any pre-tournament game. But as the game went on, I felt better and better.”

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_m_8iSvOpc[/embed]

It looked like almost two different games. Slovakia dominated the first half and then Austria pushed back.
“In the first period, there weren’t so many shots. Not in the first half of the second either, but when they started going it was pretty hard. The second half of the second period, they started to skate and they were all around, and in the third also.

“They’re a tough opponent. You could see that in the World Championship. They beat Finland, they took Canada to overtime, so we couldn’t underestimate them.”

When they had the 5-on-3 late in the second period, they were able to put some pretty good players out there.
“Yeah, for sure. I don’t know how many of them are from the NHL but they can play good hockey.”

On the goal, was it tipped in front by Marco Kasper?
“Yeah, it was tipped by the guy in front, I’m pretty sure. If it was a straight shot, 100 percent I would have stopped it, but the guy in front tipped it.”

Maybe they’ve changed it but the last time I checked, it was still Dominique Heinrich who had the goal.
“Well maybe they need to check the video.” (chuckling)

Ed. note: The goal was changed to Kasper.

The last couple of minutes with their goalie pulled looked pretty crazy in front of you.
“It’s always hard when there’s a scramble in front, so many guys there and you have to battle through to find the puck. It’s hard to see the puck when there are eight people in front of you. That’s the toughest part of 6-on-5.”

You play play again tomorrow so do you know if you’re starting again tomorrow?
“I can’t tell you.” (smiling)

But you know?
“I know.”

I know there have been a lot of distractions on this team about who would be playing and who wouldn’t. How has that been for the players here?
“I wasn’t worried about that at all. As goalies, we know the day before who’s going to be in net and that’s enough for me. I don’t care who plays in front of me. They’re my teammates but I don’t care who’s on the roster. It’s not my job to worry about that, so I don’t. I just stop the puck. That’s my job.”

We’re in late August and you were saying how it’s hard to get into big games at this time of year, but how does this help you moving into the season?
“I think it helps me a lot because I go to Minnesota right after this tournament, and right away is the rookie showcase, so this will help me for sure. It must be hard for the guys who won’t play a single game before that.”

As you know, some NHL teams don’t want their players to play in the Olympic qualifiers. What do you think about that?
“I think it’s because they don’t want them to be injured, but I was talking with my team and they said, ‘Yeah, go for it. It’s better for a goalie to play than to just practise.’ In a game, you have situations that you can’t simulate in practise.”

“We have a couple of guys here who were in that situation, and Austria also has a couple of guys, I think. It’s tough because you never know. Anything can happen in a game, and if you get injured for a long time, you can say afterward that it wasn’t worth it. But if I have a choice, I want to play.”

Related articles:

Slovakia names Olympic qualifying roster

Peter Cehlárik “frustrated” over national team omission

Pospíšil brothers make decision, issue statement

Hungary faces uphill battle at Olympic qualifiers

Kazakhstan's Olympic qualifying roster

Marco Rossi after comeback vs Canada: “In 50 years, I'll ...