Oleg Tymchenko’s team claimed a double-digit victory and capitalized on Liepaja’s defeat to move into first place.
Kyiv Capitals (Ukraine) – Panter (Estonia) – 10:1 (2:0; 4:0; 4:1)
Goals: 1:0 – Melnykov (Cyprus, Saroka), 05:45; 2:0 – Novikovs (Hu, Augstkalns), 17:35; 3:0 – Novikovs (Tsarkovskyi, Augstkalns, – power play), 21:26; 4:0 – Kryvonozhkin (Hu), 23:42; 5:0 – Novikovs (Melnykov, Zelts), 38:05; 6:0 – Cipruss (Shamardin, Honcharenko), 39:34; 7:0 – Kryvonozhkin (Hu, – power play), 49:59; 7:1 – Masljonov (Vorang), 56:47; 8:1 – Begovs, 57:55; 9:1 – Karsums (Hu, Andreykiv), 58:55; 10:1 – Hu (Augstkalns), 59:17.
Kyiv Capitals: Janis Voris (Maksym Duve, 40:00); Vitalii Andreykiv – Eduards Hugo Jansons, Martins Karsums (c) – Lauris Bajaruns – Rustams Begovs; Maksims Sirokovs – Edmunds Augstkalns, Yang Hu – Andrii Kryvonozhkin – Aleksandrs Novikovs; Andrejs Kostyuks – Ivan Shamardin, Denys Honcharenko – Danylo Tsarkovskyi – Renars Cipruss; Oleksii Melnykov – Valentyn Sirchenko, Marat Saroka – Kristians Zelts.
Head coach: Oleg Tymchenko
Panter: Georg Vladimirov; Dominik Luht – Roland Luht, Artjom Masljonov – Nikita Puzakov – Andre Linde (c); Jegor Proskurin – Konrad Kudeviita, Lenni Suutari – Nikita Fedorovits –Mihkel Vorang; Jens Hubert Parras – Riko Soots – Kevin Parras.
Head coach: Mikko Maenpaa
The hosts entered the match without Daniil Fursa, while the Estonian team arrived at the Inbox Arena without even three complete lines.
In the sixth minute, Kyiv began to justify their status as favorites. Cipruss delivered a perfect pass to Melnykov, and Oleksii scored his second goal of the season with a mid-range shot.
By the midpoint of the opening period, the Capitals had doubled their lead. Novikovs feinted to put Kudeviita on the ice, then unleashed a powerful shot past Vladimirov.
The second period began with the hosts converting their first power play of the match. Novikovs was quickest to the rebound after Tsarkovskyi’s shot, completing his brace.
Kryvonozhkin quickly extended Kyiv’s advantage. Hu outplayed Roland Luht and Vladimirov to set up Andrii for an empty-net finish. For the Canadian, it was his second assist of the game and 17th of the season.
Before the second intermission, the Capitals scored twice more thanks to Novikovs, who completed his hat-trick, and Cyprus.
In the third period, Duve replaced Voris in goal. However, he saw little action, mainly due to the Panters’ limited bench depth.
Karsums opened the scoring in the final frame, but the goal was disallowed due to a foul on Vladimirov. Kryvonozhkin then made it 7:0, completing his own brace. During a power play, Hu won the faceoff, and Andrii fired a turning shot into the top corner of the Panters’ net.
Masljonov eventually converted one of his team’s rare chances, breaking the shutout, but that only fired up the hosts. Begovs, Karsums, and Hu – who recorded five points in the game – set a new scoring record for the Kyiv Capitals in the Optibet League with 10 goals.
Thanks to the victory and Liepaja’s loss to Mogo/RSU, Tymchenko’s men reached 36 points and moved to the top of the standings.
On December 6, our team will host its closest rival, Liepaja.
