体坛英语新闻：Banska Bystrica up to second in Slovak ice hockey league

BRATISLAVA, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Reigning champions Banska Bystrica defeated Trencin 3-2 on Monday to move up to second in the Tipsport Liga and trail leaders Kosice by only three points after the 36th round of matches.

Banska Bystrica's Canadian forward Jordan Hickmott scored two goals to lay the foundations for his team's fourth consecutive victory.

Slovan Bratislava slipped to third after a 3-2 home defeat to eighth-ranked Nitra. The capital outfit opened the scoring early in the game on a power-play but the visitors answered with three consecutive goals to upset the favorites.

League newcomers Michalovce are level on points with Nitra after a convincing 4-1 victory against second-bottom side Nove Zamky, who slumped to their third successive defeat.

After losing two in a row, Poprad had a great opportunity to get back on track against lowly Budapest, ultimately winning 5-3, serving the team from Hungary's capital their fifth loss in a row. Poprad answered the Hungarian team's opening goal with three of their own.

Although the visitors managed to tie the game in the final period, Poprad prevailed once again thanks to Matus Palocko completing a hat-trick to mark a fine comeback after serious injury.

Zvolen overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat Miskolc 6-2 despite missing five players. Zvolen's American defenseman Willie Corrin sounded the attack-horn late in the first period with a power-play goal and added another in the second period. Jakub Melisko also finished the night with two goals (his first two in the Tipsport Liga)

Elsewhere, Detva also managed to turn things around, winning 3-2 against Liptovsky Mikulas thanks to a decisive goal from Zdenek Kral in the final period.