Second Period Seals Win for Dinamo Minsk

Dinamo Minsk – HC SLOVAN Bratislava 4:1 (0:0, 3:0, 1:1)

Goals: 24. Goroshko (Krajíček), 28. Linglet (Vesce), 36. Kalyuzhny (Cheechoo, Szczechura), 45. Vesce (Ellison, Linglet) – 45. Sersen

Lineups:
Dinamo Minsk: Haugen – Krajíček, Goroshko, Bailen, Nogachyov, Shinkevich, Lisovets, Drozd – Cheechoo (A), Szczechura, Kalyuzhny (C) – Vesce, Ellison, Linglet – Kulakov (A), Kitarov, Meleshko – Zakharov, Razvadosky, Gavrus
HC SLOVAN: Backlund – Baranka, Sersen, Vondrka, Murley, Nagy – Sigalet, Štajnoch, Bartovič, Surový, Netík – Starosta, Foster, Jeglič, Tičar, White – Brejčák, Lunter, Bližňák, Šťastný

Minsk launched their offensive right from the get-go, and an early foul from Jeglič helped their cause. Linglet had a major chance in the powerplay; Slovan had Backlund to thank for keeping him out. Jonathan Cheechoo's attacking line also failed to get on the scoresheet, despite running rings around the Slovan defence. Slovan's first chance came in the 11th minute when Surový had just Haugen to beat, but he shot just wide.  When Šťastný made a defensive error, Kulakov came mighty close to punishing him. Slovan's second chance fell to Tomáš Surový again, but he and Netík could not get the puck over the line even at the second attempt. With seconds to go, Bartovič broke away and rounded Haugen, but the goalie's questionable lunge stopped him from finishing into the empty net, leaving the captain fuming.

Minsk finally opened the scoring just three minutes into the second period. The hosts won a face-off in our zone, and Goroško turned Krajíček's strong shot past Backlunda - 1:0. Slovan then got their wits about them and the second line started to get at Haugen, but they were unable to convert any chances. Instead, Minsk struck at the other end. In the 28th minute, the Slovan defence failed to pick up Linglet in front of goal, allowing him to tap in from Vesce's accurate pass – 2:0. Bartovič did have a chance in the 32th minute, but he could only find Haugen's pads. Six minutes later the home side were celebrating their third as the alert Kalyuzhny followed up on Szczechura's shot and gave Backlund no chance – 3:0.

Slovan came out postitively in the final period, aiming to at least score their first goal. But our players came up against a stout Dinamo defence, anchored by the reliable Haugen, who kept out a number of shots. Tomáš Starosta found himself well-placed to finish off Murley's cross in the 44th minute, but even he came away with nothing. But Sersen soon followed with a fine piece of play, wending his way all the way up the ice to finish off a fine individual goal - 3:1. Slovan's joy was short-lived however - Linglet picked out Vesce seconds later and it was 4:1. In the time that remained, Slovan played the better hockey, but they could no longer do anything to change the result. 

Petri Matikainen: We started the game passively, we didn't have a good first period. Nevertheless, we soaked up the pressure and kept out the opposition, the game was still undecided. We were more active in the second period, we did more with the puck and created opportunities, but unfortunately no goals came from them. The problem in the middle period was a number of unnecessary errors which Dinamo punished. In the third period we pulled one back, but again we were hurt by a defensive error and the fourth goal. There are quality teams playing in the KHL, who know how to immediately seize on such mistakes, and Dinamo is one of them. I congratulate our opponents on their victory.