Slovan snatch a point off the league leaders

Dinamo Moscow - HC SLOVAN Bratislava 2:1 (1:1, 0:0, 0:0 - 0:0, 1:0)

Goals: 16. Ovechkin (Komarov, Gorokhov) - 10. Bartovič (Sekera), winning penalty shot: Gynge

Shots: 34:27, penalties: 2:4 (2 min), additional: Kokarev (Dinamo) 5 + Game for checking to the head, powerplay goals: 1:1 shorthanded goals: 0:0, attendance: 3500, officials: Kadyrov, Hašilov, Pronskich, Maitak (all Rus.)

Zostavy: 
Dinamo Moscow: Yeryomenko - Gorochov, Graňák, Novák, Solovyov, Boikov, Višnevskij, Akišin - Ovechkin, Bäckström, Komarov - Gynge, Gorovikov, Kvapil - Soin, Tolpeko, Kňazev - Cvetkov, Volkov, Kokarev
HC SLOVAN: Janus - Višňovský, Sigalet, Vondrka, Bližňák, Miklík - Sersen, Štajnoch, Hudáček, Lipiansky Bartovič - Sekera, Tabaček, Dravecký, Kytnár, Kukumberg - Trška, Ölvecký, Preisinger Kudrna.

From the off, Dinamo tried to push the pace of the game, and with just forty seconds on the board, Dinamo captain Alexander Ovechkin went close with a shot from the circles. HC SLOVAN Bratislava made themselves known in the 4^th minute, when Milan Bartovič had a shot which last season’s Gagarin Cup MVP Alexander Yeryomenko saved. In the 6^th minute, there were ugly scenes as Kokarev put in a hit on defenceman Ján Tabaček, which the referees gave as a 5+game penalty for checking to the head. Tabaček was slow to get up and did not return to the game. On the extended powerplay, HC SLOVAN worked the puck well and eventually their efforts were rewarded as Bartovič scooped up the loose puck on the doorstep and nursed the puck home to give HC SLOVAN a 0:1 lead away from home. Five minutes before the end of the period, Andrej Sekera was called for a penalty giving Dinamo a powerplay, and it only took a few seconds for Dinamo to find the back of the net, as Ovechkin was able to find some space under Janus and poke it in at the near post. There were more injury problems for HC SLOVAN towards the end of the period, as Martin Štajnoch, in his first game back in three weeks, aggravated his pelvic bone injury and did not return.

HC SLOVAN began the second period fearlessly, and Libor Hudáček went close to finding the back of the net. However, Dinamo began to get more into the game the longer it went on, and were starting to get sustained pressure in the HC SLOVAN defensive zone. However, thanks to some great play by the defence unit and Janus, the score remained unchanged. Miklik and Hudáček had chances mid-way through the period but Yeryomenko was able to stop them with relative ease. HC SLOVAN went on the powerplay in the 32^nd minute but they struggled to get anything going with the man advantage.

The third period began with Trška firing a hard shot which the home netminder had trouble dealing with but managed to keep out of his net. Yeryomenko also had to be sharp to deal with a shot by Milan Kytnar after some good work by Priesinger and Kudrna. In the 50^th minute Ovechkin got into a good shooting position only to find Jaroslav Janus in his way, as the young Slovak netminder made a fantastic save to deny the Dinamo captain. Janus stole the show mid-way through the third, making an incredible sprawling glove save to deny Gorovikov at point blank range. With two minutes before the end of the third period, Višňovský took a penalty, but HC SLOVAN was able to hold on to take the game to overtime, and then to a shootout, for the fourth game in a row. The shootout went to sudden death after Lipiansky and Bližňák scored for HC SLOVAN in the first two rounds, but Lipiansky’s second effort would be saved, which sealed the game for Dinamo, as Gynge had scored with the first shot in the fourth round.