Dinamo Riga - SKA

Dinamo Riga - SKA - 1:3

6 September 2017

SKA travelled to Latvia to play HC Dinamo Riga in the KHL. Head coach Oleg Znarok made a goalkeeping change for this match, replacing Mikko Koskinen with Igor Shestyorkin. Janis Kalnins was Dinamo's starting netminder.

Dinamo made a positive start inside the Arena Riga. Maris Bicevskis had a perfect chance to give the home fans an early goal, but he was denied by a superb Igor Shestyorkin save at point blank range. Not long later, SKA made the breakthrough - Sergei Kalinin burst between the Dinamo defence, found himself one on one and bundled the puck over the line. Our players went on to dominate the period, outshooting the Riga outfit 16-2. However, despite taking a number of penalties, Dinamo somehow kept the deficit at one.

The hosts improved in the second stanza, testing Igor Shestyorkin on a more regular basis. Nevertheless, SKA doubled the advantage on a counterattack. Nikita Gusev was the scorer, blasting a strong wrist shot into the net from the right faceoff circle. Dinamo weren't prepared to give up though, and they received a lifeline when SKA gifted them a five on three powerplay. Unfortunately, Dinamo made full use of the opportunity - Lucas Lessio pounced on a juicy rebound to make it 2:1.

With the match delicately poised, SKA needed an insurance goal. To our delight, it arrived seven minutes into the third frame. Dinamo earned another penalty, and Sergei Shirokov lashed a fierce wrister past Janis Kalnins' glove. Dinamo tried their best to make it a nervy finish in Riga, but Igor Shestyorkin wasn't willing to give them hope. 3:1, SKA beat Dinamo Riga and remain undefeated in the KHL!

Match protocol:

Dinamo Riga - SKA - 1:3 (0:1, 1:1, 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Kalinin (Shirokov, Khafizullin), 04.10

0:2 Gusev (Prokhorkin), 28.31

1:2 Lessio (Stollery, Jevpalovs), 37.01

1:3 Shirokov (Chudinov, Koskiranta), 46.07

Goalkeepers: Kalnins/Peters - Shestyorkin

Shots on target: 21 - 44

Penalty minutes: 20 - 10

Faceoffs: 13 - 47

Hits: 7 - 9