RIG 2:1 MIN | Dinamo Riga - HC Dinamo Minsk (KHL)

KHL

Novokuznetsk – Novosibirsk

3:2 (end)

Mytishchi – Spartak

0:2 (end)

Riga – Dinamo Minsk

2:1 (end)

final

Dinamo Riga Latvia

2:1 (2:0, 0:0, 0:1)

HC Dinamo Minsk

Thursday 05.09.2013, 18:30 • Arena Riga • KHL

		Thank you for following the game with us! (20:39:46)
		Dinamo Riga opens the new season with a well-deserved 2:1 victory over Dinamo Minsk. For the first half of the game Riga was without a doubt the superior team, scoring two goals. Early in the third Minsk finally beat Tellqvist, but for the next 14 minutes failed to tie the game. Shots on goal: Riga 3 (20) – Minsk 6 (17)
	60:00	Game over.
	59:42	Meleshko found himself alone in front of the net, however Tellqvist saved the game for Riga.
	59:25	Puck leaves Riga's defensive zone.
	59:15	Minsk pulls goalie.
	58:54	Surovy makes a wonderful pass in front of Tellqvist's net but Irgl fails to reach it.
	58:02	Great pressure by Miks Indrasis stops Minsk from beginning an attack.
	57:38	Visiting team timeout.
	57:38	Yet another unsuccessful pass and icing for Minsk.
	57:02	A two-on-one counter attack for Riga. Andris Dzerins decides to shoot, but his wrist shot gets stopped.
	55:56	A slap shot by Tomas Surovy stopped by Tellqvist.
	55:43	Riga plays very smart and cautious hockey. Minsk fails to create any scoring chances at the moment.
	55:06	Another icing by Minsk.
	54:13	Marcel Hascak beats two defenders and ends up alone in front of the net, but his backhand shot get easily stopped by Lalande.
	53:51	Icing by Minsk.
	53:18	Dinamo Riga is playing very slowly at their own end. Minsk hasn't had a shot on goal for a while now.
	50:12	A backhand shot by Gints Meija gets easily stopped by Lalande.
	47:44	Minsk continues to control the puck.
	46:25	Home team timeout.
	46:25	Goal for Dinamo Minsk! After storming Riga's defensive zone for around a minute without a single shot on net, Minsk manages to score, after a lengthy fight by KHL debutant JACOB MICFLIKIER in front of the net.
	45:37	Tomas Surovy ends up in the net of Dinamo Riga, but the play continues.
	45:04	Icing by Dinamo Riga.
	43:02	There hasn't been a single shot on Lalande's net so far in third period.
	41:48	Minsk continues attacking also at full strength.
	40:49	Visiting team at full strength.
	40:40	Minsk is passing around the offensive zone but fails to shoot on Riga's net.
	40:01	Start of 3rd period.
		The first half of the second period with regards to puck control was literally dominated by Dinamo Riga, yet the team failed to score or even create an awful lot of scoring chances. In the second half Minsk became increasingly more active, creating few chances and ultimately earning a two minute powerplay late in the period. Minsk will begin the third period with 50 second of powerplay left, and should come out strong to still have a chance of turning this game around. Shots on goal: Riga 6 (17) – Minsk 6 (11)
	40:00	2nd period finished.
	39:59	Minsk manages to create two good scoring chances, but Tellqvist remains unbeaten.
	38:49	Tellqvist (Riga) gets two minutes for tripping.
	38:49	A three-on-one attack for Minsk. Irgl passes to Meech who is illegally stopped by Tellqvist.
		Today's attendance is 9250.
	35:45	Hascak passes the puck to Szczechura who has an opportunity to score but Lalande is in his place.
	35:02	Oskars Cibulskis gets the rebound but his shot goes wide.
	33:23	A strong slap shot by defender Alexei Yefimenko gets blocked by one of Riga's forwards.
	32:26	Miks Indrasis gets past two defenders and dekes in front of Minsk's net, but Kevin Lalande stops the puck.
	31:01	Although Riga is up by only two goals, there are no signs of Dinamo Minsk trying to change anything about their game.
	29:58	Both teams battling for the puck behind Tellqvist's net.
	28:35	Miks Indrasis passes the puck to the front of the net but defender of Minsk doesn't allow it to reach Marcel Hascak.
	25:18	Riga controls the puck in the offensive zone, fails to attempt shots on goal.
	24:20	Sandis Ozolins finds Martins Cipulis in front of the net, however Lalande deflects the puck.
	23:33	Home team at full strength.
	23:32	After two shots on goal made early on the powerplay, Minsk fails to successfully enter the offensive zone.
	22:05	Riga manages to clear the puck.
	21:33	Minsk earns a powerplay as Georgijs Pujacs (Riga) gets two minutes for holding Zbynek Irgl.
	20:01	Start of 2nd period.
		In the first twenty minutes of the game Dinamo Riga clearly was the better team, earning a well-deserved 2:0 lead. Throughout the period Minsk struggled to enter the defensive zone of Riga, being able to create only one scoring chance. Shots on goal: Riga 11 – Minsk 5
	20:00	1st period finished.
	17:47	Lukas Krajicek passes the puck to the front of Riga's net, however none of the Minsk forwards manage to put it behind Tellqvist.
	16:28	So far Riga has played very well defensively with Minsk struggling to enter their defensive zone.
	15:57	Another strong attack by Dinamo Riga finished with a wrist shot by Paul Szczechura.
	14:45	Riga currently clearly has the edge of the game.
	12:33	Juris Upitis steals the puck behind the net of Dinamo Minsk and tries to bury it in the top corner.
	11:25	Players of Dinamo Minsk seem to be rather confused.
	09:38	Goal for Dinamo Riga! Krisjanis Redlihs skates behind the net and chooses the right moment to pass the puck to KYLE WILSON who scores on powerplay and extends the lead of Dinamo Riga.
	09:27	After a successful combination Krisjanis Redlihs attempts a strong slap shot on net, but Lalande is in his place.
	08:13	Alexander Kitarov (Minsk) gets two minutes for hooking.
	06:50	During the two minutes of powerplay Minsk managed to take only a single shot on Tellqvist's net.
	06:50	Home team at full strength.
	06:43	Filichkin attempts a shot from the blue line, however the puck does not reach the net.
	04:50	Marcel Hossa (Riga) gets two minutes for hooking.
	01:29	Goal for Dinamo Riga! The home team manages to turn already their first attack into a goal. GINTS MEIJA gets the rebound in front of the Minsk's net and easily beats Kevin Lalande.
	00:01	Game started.
		Starting lineups: Dinamo Riga: Tellqvist (Cimermanis) – Ozolins, Redlihs, Sotnieks, Robinson, Cibulskis, Siksna, Pujacs – Kuzmenkovs, Wilson, Dzerins, Szczechura, Cipulis, Indrasis, Bukarts, Hascak, Pavlovs, Hossa, Meija, Upitis HC Dinamo Minsk: Lalande (Haugen) – Meech, Shinkevich, Filichkin, Lisovets, Krajicek, Chernook, Goroshko – Micflikier, Drozd, Dadonov, Platt, Meleshko, Irgl, Stas, Yefimenko, Surovy, Pavlovich, Kitarov, Gavrus, Kiryushchenkov Referees: Gashilov, Shchenyov – Lazarev, Shikhanov.
		Atmosphere in Riga is reaching the top of the roof as approximately 10 000 fans sing the Latvian anthem.
		With approximately ten minutes left until the face-off, a special pre-game show dedicated to the beginning of the new season has started.
		The Dinamo rivalry between Riga and Minsk alone should be a reason for the Latvian fans to fill up the seats of Arena Riga, yet in the same time it will be also the regular season opener for both of the teams. Last year turned out rather unsuccessful for both Riga and Minsk as neither of them managed to qualify for the Gagarin Cup playoffs and surely both teams are starting the new season with a clear aim to turn things around. During the off-season Dinamo Riga managed to sign legendary Latvian defenseman Sandis Ozolins, a long-time captain of the team prior 12-13, as well as saw already the second return of Slovakian forward Marcel Hossa who is still the all-time top goal scorer of the team. Dinamo Minsk, on the other hand, added Jacob Micflikier and Derek Meech, two Canadians who will make their KHL debut tonight, as well as Slovakian forward Tomas Surovy among others.
		Welcome. Game starts at 18:30.

Commentary by

Didzis Rudmanis

Goals & lineups Match log

Goals and assists: 2. Meija (Hossa), 10. Wilson (Redlihs, Hossa) – 47. Micflikier (Krajicek)

Dinamo Riga: Tellqvist (Cimermanis) – Ozolins, Redlihs, Sotnieks, Robinson, Cibulskis, Siksna, Pujacs – Kuzmenkovs, Wilson, Dzerins, Szczechura, Cipulis, Indrasis, Bukarts, Hascak, Pavlovs, Hossa, Meija, Upitis

HC Dinamo Minsk: Lalande (Haugen) – Meech, Shinkevich, Filichkin, Lisovets, Krajicek, Chernook, Goroshko – Micflikier, Drozd, Dadonov, Platt, Meleshko, Irgl, Stas, Yefimenko, Surovy, Pavlovich, Kitarov, Gavrus, Kiryushchenkov

Referees: Gashilov, Shchenyov – Lazarev, Shikhanov

Attendance: 9250

1st period
	01:29
	04:50
	08:13
	09:38
1st intermission
2nd period
	21:33
	38:49
2nd intermission
3rd period
	46:25
Final