‘Bisons’ finish their long-term and rather successful series of away matches in Khanty-Mansiysk, facing local Yugra
Khanty-Mansiysk ‘Mammoths’ fail to withstand pressure from ‘Bisons’
The match against the ‘Mammoths’ was the hardest in a series of difficult away matches for the ‘Bisons’. In the game against Yugra, ranked 11th in the Western Conference, Dinamo presented the same line-up as when meeting Traktor two days previously. Forward Artem Demkov, who recently moved to Dinamo from Sochi, again failed to appear on the ice. Meanwhile, Canadian goalkeeper Danny Taylor had arrived in Minsk only the day before the match, joining the squad after the Belarusian team’s return from its ‘travelling tour’. In contrast, Yugra boasted experienced forward Dmitry Ryabykin.
Events developed rapidly, with two pucks delivered into Yugra’s net (although one was disqualified). The score was opened by Jonathan Cheechoo, who finished a beautiful combination set up by his teammates. Sadly, Dinamo’s best shooter received an injury to his back during the attack. Several seconds later, second line-up forward Ryan Vesce achieved the disqualified goal, having deflected the puck with his skate.
By the middle of the first half, the hosts had equalised and three more goals were soon forthcoming. Minsker Sergey Drozd sent a powerful kick from the blue line, catching Yugra’s goalie, Mikhail Biryukov, flatfooted. The puck was the first for the Belarusian forward this season. Then, Cheechoo took the second, delivering the puck after Paul Szczechura’s remote kick. From the start of the second period, the Khanty-Mansiysk club’s net was defended by Sergey Goryachevskikh, without any attempts made for just over six minutes. He was then ‘hit’ by Konstantin Zakharov, from close distance: the Belarusian hockey player’s first goal in the regular KHL Championship. Just 28 seconds later, Jonathan Cheechoo snuck through Yugra’s defence to take an easy puck.
By the middle of the second period, Yugra was playing more aggressively, resulting in a fight between Charles Linglet and Alexey Pepelyaev. The two had hardly sat upon the penalty bench before their teammates took over with their fists and the referee sent off more players.
More penalties and ejections were forthcoming, benefitting the ‘Bisons’. Alexey Kalyuzhny delivered the sixth puck and no more goals came before the final whistle, leaving the score at 2:6.
Dinamo Minsk has, so far, earned 10 out of a 12 possible points. Neftekhimik defeated the squad (4:5 in overtime) but Dinamo then bagged three victories in a row: over Lada (3:1), Traktor (3:2) and Yugra (6:2).
