Oleg Tymchenko’s squad suffered their first defeat at the Inbox Ice Arena.
The Kyiv team approached the central matchup of the weekend with one lineup change. Romi Huunonen started in net instead of Conrad Mölder.
In the 7th minute, the visitors capitalized on what was essentially the first mistake by Oleg Tymchenko’s wards. Janis Zemitis intercepted an inaccurate pass from Jansons and beat Huunonen on a breakaway.
In the second period, Zemitis completed his brace, doubling the Riga squad’s advantage. Grinbergs wrested the puck from Sarkanis and redirected it to Zemitis, who converted his second impromptu breakaway of the game.
The Kyiv team did not give up and managed to cut the deficit. Zemitis failed to intercept Andreykiv’s pass to Sarkanis, who found the back of Mezsargs’ net with a powerful shot.
Despite our team generating nearly three times as many shots over the first two periods, Mogo/RSU had the last word before the second intermission. The Zemitis-Grinbergs duo stepped up once again.
Janis, surrounded by Brants and Svars, passed the puck to Ricards, whom Morozov was unable to stop. As a result, Grinbergs netted the third goal for Ģirts Ankipāns’ squad.
Unfortunately, only the visitors found the back of the net in the third 20-minute frame. The visitors’ second offensive line was involved in the fourth goal once again. Ernests Krums was the goalscorer, while Grinbergs and Zemitis each picked up their fourth point of the game thanks to their assists. Rauls Ozollapa then put the final nail in the coffin.
Thus, the Riga squad claimed a 5:1 victory, closing the gap on the Kyiv Capitals in the standings. Our team holds a one-point lead, but the opponent has two games in hand.
Kyiv Capitals (Ukraine) – Mogo/RSU (Latvia) – 1:5 (0:1, 1:2, 0:2)
Goals: 0:1 – Zemitis (Grinbergs), 06:26; 0:2 – Zemitis (Grinbergs), 26:52; 1:2 – Sarkanis (Andreykiv, Jansons), 30:00; 1:3 – Grinbergs (Zemitis, Krums), 32:51; 1:4 – Krums (Grinbergs, Zemitis, – power play), 42:26; 1:5 – Ozollapa (Daugavins, Kalkis), 45:45.
Kyiv Capitals: Romi Huunonen; Vitalii Andreykiv – Eduards Hugo Jansons, Gatis Sprukts (c) – Kevins Stradnieks – Deivids Sarkanis; Pauls Svars – Harijs Brants, Illia Korenchuk – Olegs Sislannikovs – Rustams Begovs; Ville Rautiala – Jani Siekkinen, Mykhailo Kovalchuk – Danylo Tsarkovskyi – Renars Ciprus; Anton Romanyshyn – Feliks Morozov, Denys Honcharenko – Lukas Zukauskas – Maksims Saperins.
Head Coach: Oleg Tymchenko
Mogo/RSU: Karlis Mezsargs; Kristaps Sotnieks – Renarts Berzins, Gints Meija (c) – Rauls Ozollapa – Kaspars Daugavins; Kristaps Jakobsons – Roberts Kalkis, Ricards Grinbergs – Ernests Krums – Janis Zemitis; Ingus Locmelis – Vladimirs Zaicevs, Elviss Zelubovskis – Rudolfs Polcs – Kaspars Ziemins; Emils Brigzna – Markuss Megris, Ronalds Ķenins – Timurs Solostejs – Rolans Vasiljevs.
Head Coach: Girts Ankipans
On October 28, our team’s season will continue with a road game against Zemgale/LBTU.
