Vadym Shakhraichuk’s team held the lead for nearly 38 minutes but ultimately couldn’t maintain the advantage.
Kyiv Capitals (Кyiv) – Sokil (Кyiv) – 1:2 (1:0; 0:0; 0:2)
Pucks: 1:0 – Panchenko (Tyshchenko, Kutsevych, power play), 16:21; 1:1 – Blahyi (Borodai, Yanishevskyi, power play), 54:09; 1:2 – Razumov (Yanishevskyi, Blahyi), 56:46
Kyiv Capitals: Boris Babik; Kostiantyn Riabenko – Danylo Tyshchenko, Vladyslav Kutsevych – Serhii Chernenko (c) – Yaroslav Panchenko; Pavlo Taran – Valentyn Sirchenko, Andrii Kryvonozhkin – Yevhen Sekirko – Mykyta Oliynyk; Tymur Lapko – Eetu Moksunen, Yehor Bezuhlyi – Mykola Dvornyk – Vladyslav Luhovyi; Denys Khonin – Danylo Babchuk, Denys Plesovskykh – Oleksandr Koida – Oleksandr Dreval
Head coach: Vadym Shakhraichuk
Sokil: Bohdan Diachenko; Vsevolod Tolstushko – Oleksandr Filimonov, Volodymyr Cherdak – Vadym Mazur – Serhii Babynets; Oleksii Yanishevskyi – Volodymyr Aleksiuk, Roman Blahyi (c) – Viktor Zakharov – Maksym Razumov; Pavlo Dvoretskyi – Mykyta Polonytskyi, Ihor Sliusar – Vasyl-Yurii Kachan – Denys Borodai; Maksym Zherebko – Oleksandr Horlushko, Ruslan Romashchenko – Artem Bondariev – Yevhen Hovorushko
Head coach: Oleg Shafarenko
In the announcement, it was noted that the nominal hosts were missing Berdniks for this meeting. Vadym Shakhraichuk addressed this issue by utilizing the familiar scheme, where Tyshchenko took on defensive duties alongside Riabenko in the starting pair of defenders. Honin made his return to the team after a long absence, joining Dreval in completing the fourth five. Sliusar and Zherebko, who were part of the first match of the series, were also included in Oleg Shafarenko’s team.
The first period of the third match was relatively even and calm until the first penalty. Both teams took turns controlling the game, but neither could score. Capitals eventually capitalized on a power play opportunity, with Panchenko netting the third goal of the playoffs and his 34th of the season.
Sokil had a similar chance on a power play, but Babik’s leadership helped our team withstand the pressure.
In the second 20 minutes, the nominal guests managed to create more scoring opportunities but were unable to capitalize on them. However, Kryvonozhkin had a golden opportunity just before the second break but failed to convert a shot into the practically empty net. This missed chance meant that the score remained unchanged.
The scoreboard finally changed in the 55th minute when Capitals had only 13 seconds to the end of short-handed play. Borodai took a shot on Blahyi’s goal, finding the empty corner and beating Babik from close range. This goal proved to be a crucial turning point in the game.
Within three minutes, Razumov scored by redirecting a pass from Yanishevskyi into Babik’s goal, putting Oleg Shafarenko’s team ahead for the first time.
With just 1:26 left in the third period, Vadym Shakhraichuk pulled Babik from the net, giving Capitals an artificial power play. Despite their efforts, they couldn’t force the game into overtime. As a result, the final score of the match determined the current series result, with Sokil leading 2:1.
The next game between these two teams is scheduled for March 8th.
