Oleg Tymchenko’s side failed to beat the Riga team for the fourth time this season.
HS Riga (Latvia) – Kyiv Capitals (Ukraine) – 3:1 (2:0; 0:1; 1:0)
Goals: 1:0 – Saviels (Sprieslis), 00:58; 2:0 – Paurs (Valbahs, Sprieslis), 11:05; 2:1 – Cipruss (Honcharenko), 34:01; 3:1 – Saviels (Mihailovs, Polis), 47:07.
HS Riga: Jegors Kirpickins; Markuss Ansons – Kristaps Kandis, Karlis Tamenieks – Kristers Obuks (c) – Davids Danilovs; Markuss Saviels – Tomas Erdmanis Hermanis, Felikss Niks Paurs – Ernests Valbahs – Lenards Janis Sprieslis; Daniils Danovskis – Aleksejs Danovskis, Stefans Rots – Aleksandrs Biskins – Makss Mihailovs; Roberts Janis Polis – Gustavs Spigulis.
Head coach: Juris Ozols
Kyiv Capitals: Nazar Boiko; Vitalii Andreykiv – Eduards Hugo Jansons, Martins Karsums (c) – Lauris Bayaruns – Rustams Begovs; Maksims Sirokovs – Edmunds Augstkalns, Yang Hu – Andrii Kryvonozhkin – Kristians Zelts; Andrejs Kostjuks – Ivan Shamardin, Denys Honcharenko – Danylo Tsarkovskyi – Renars Cipruss;
Oleksii Melnykov – Valentyn Sirchenko, Marat Saroka – Daniil Fursa – Aleksandrs Novikovs.
Head coach: Oleg Tymchenko
Kyiv Capitals approached the game with a full roster. Karsums returned to the first line, while a rotation took place in goal. Boiko received ice time on his 20th birthday.
The hosts, meanwhile, had only 17 skaters available. Nevertheless, Juris Ozols’ team opened the scoring in the first minute. Saviels caught Boiko off guard with a shot from the blue line, with the goaltender screened by players from both teams.
Midway through the opening period, Riga doubled their lead. Paurs intercepted the puck from Kryvonozhkin and, without closing in on Sirokovs, fired it precisely into the top corner of Boiko’s net.
After a disappointing opening 20 minutes, the Capitals responded strongly in the second period, outshooting their opponents by more than three times (24:7). The visitors managed to convert one of those chances: Honcharenko found Cipruss with a pass from behind the net, and the forward reacted quickly in the slot to beat Kirpickins.
In the third period, Kyiv’s shot advantage continued to grow, but they were unable to beat Kirpickins for a second time. HS Riga, in turn, restored their two-goal cushion. Boiko, while falling, denied Mihailovs, but the puck bounced to Saviels, who fired into what was virtually an empty net to complete his double.
There were no more goals in the game. As a result, the Latvian capital side claimed a sensational victory, while Oleg Tymchenko’s team remained in first place but missed the chance to extend their lead over Mogo/RSU.
On January 24, Kyiv Capitals will continue the season with a matchup against Energija.
