Matej Tomek made his first appearance of the Czech Extraliga season in the 12th round and stopped 36 shots as HC Verva Litvínov beat HC Energie Karlovy Vary 3–1 in the Podkrušnohorské derby. The goalie said he was pleased to help his team take all three points after missing nearly the first quarter of the season with an unspecified lower-body injury.
The game also brought a tense exchange between Tomek and Karlovy Vary counterpart Dominik Frodl. Tomek said the disagreement began as he spoke emotionally with Nick Jones about a fall into his crease, with Frodl joining the exchange. He described it as nothing serious, just a little trash talk that comes with a derby. Tomek said his mask fell off because it was wet, not because Frodl had knocked it off.
Asked whether he might have fought Frodl, Tomek said he would probably have stayed out of it, adding that his gloves were tightly secured and a fight might not have been fair. He identified successful penalty killing in the second period as a key moment, saying an equaliser could have changed the game. Tomek had recently played for Chomutov to regain match fitness after about eight weeks without playing.