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BRATISLAVA, Feb. 26-- With only eight rounds to go in the regular season of the Slovak premier ice hockey league Tipsport Liga, Banska Bystrica increased its lead over illness-plagued Bratislava in a direct clash on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, the sixth-ranked Trencin managed to rally against Kosice and snap its five-game losing streak. In the second group of teams that are fighting for the last two playoff spots, Nitra was able to tie Michalovce thanks to a tremendous last period, but lost in OT and was forced to yield its eighth place to Miskolc, which climbed to a playoff position in a very long time after a close victory over Nove Zamky. Slovan Bratislava's five-game winning streak came to an abrupt end in the second round of the second stage of the Tipsport Liga's regular season after an overtime dagger by Banska Bystrica's veteran forward Martin Kriska who also assisted on the game-tying goal in the third period. The home team's third consecutive victory stretched its lead on top of the standings to 3 points. Third Kosice is trailing Bratislava also by 3 points after serving fifth-ranked Zvolen is third defeat in a row. The home team was the first to strike but Kosice answered with 3 consecutive goals and took over the match, triumphing 5-2 eventually. Elsewhere, Poprad was on the right track to win its third in a row, going into the second period against Trencin up 3-1 but the home team cranked up its efforts and scored five goals in a row, triumphing 6-3 with six different scorers. | 
