After a disappointing first period, Oleg Tymchenko’s men fully bounced back in the next two.
Kyiv Capitals (Ukraine) – Hockey Punks (Lithuania) – 10:3 (0:1; 6:0; 4:2)
Goals: 0:1 – Verenis (power play), 15:56; 1:1 – Hu (Augstkalns, Kovalchuk, – power play), 21:32; 2:1 – Kryvonozhkin (Shamardin, Kovalchuk), 23:01; 3:1 – Karsums (Bajaruns, Begovs), 27:09; 4:1 – Tsarkovskyi (Novikovs), 28:47; 5:1 – Bajaruns (Karsums, Andreykiv), 32:32; 6:1 – Tsarkovskyi (Augstkalns, Honcharenko), 38:17; 7:1 – Kryvonozhkin (Begovs, Jansons, – power play), 41:13; 8:1 – Kovalchuk (Kostjuks, Cipruss), 44:29; 8:2 – Siekkinen (Bacevicius, Ragas), 50:22; 8:3 – Kutkevicius (Maunula, Siekkinen, – power play), 53:30; 9:3 – Jansons (Karsums, Begovs, – power play), 54:28; 10:3 – Kovalchuk (Andreykiv, Fursa), 57:54.
Kyiv Capitals: Nazar Boiko; Vitalii Andreykiv – Eduards Hugo Jansons, Martins Karsums (c) – Lauris Bajaruns – Rustams Begovs; Daniel Klinecky – Ivan Shamardin, Mykhailo Kovalchuk – Yang Hu – Daniil Fursa; Andrejs Kostjuks – Alberto Colli, Andrii Kryvonozhkin – Danylo Tsarkovskyi – Aleksandrs Novikovs; Edmunds Augstkalns, Denys Honcharenko – Renars Cipruss – Kristians Zelts.
Head coach: Oleg Tymchenko
Hockey Punks: Simas Baltrunas (Valdemar Vezan, 41:13); Henri Aleksi Mustunen – Kajus Zeynalov, Aleksi Tapio Poikola – Ilja Cetvertak – Povilas Verenis; Jani Tapani Siekkinen – Rokas Bacevicius (c), Luke Fox Kutkevicius – Alex Maunula – Timonas Mazulis; Herkus Marcinkevicius – Dominykas Motiejunas, Artem Redko – Ilja Michalevic – Ilja Zuckovs; Domas Janusonis – Nojus Jonas Kudzevicius, Ignotas Ragas – Kirill Struk – Martynas Miliunas.
Head coach: Dovydas Kulevicius
Kyiv made just one change to their roster ahead of the game against Vilnius. Augstkalns replaced Melnykov, returning to the ice after a break. Boiko started in goal, having finished the previous match against Prizma.
The opening period was relatively quiet in terms of scoring. The visitors registered more shots, and one of them counted. During their first power play, Verenis capitalized on a scramble in front of the net to open the scoring.
The Capitals came out for the second period with a completely different mindset. They quickly took advantage of Marcinkevicius’ penalty to restore parity. Kovalchuk found Hu at the top of the crease, and the Canadian made no mistake, beating Baltrunas for the equalizer.
That goal sparked total dominance from Tymchenko’s side. Over the next seven minutes, Kryvonozhkin, Karsums, and Tsarkovskyi extended Kyiv’s lead to three goals with strong work around the net. But the scoring spree was far from over.
Bajaruns outpaced Bacevicius to add another, and Tsarkovskyi completed his brace by redirecting Augstkalns’ shot. The second period ended 6:0 in Kyiv’s favor, with a 25:7 advantage in shots.
The start of the third period mirrored the previous one – another power play goal for Kyiv. Kryvonozhkin scored his second of the night on a rebound after Jansons’ shot.
At even strength, Kovalchuk increased the lead to seven goals.
The Lithuanians didn`t give up and narrowed the gap slightly thanks to Siekkinen and Kutkevicius. However, the final word belonged to the hosts. Goals from Jansons and Kovalchuk – the latter becoming the third Capitals player to record a brace – sealed a 10:3 victory, marking the second straight game in which Kyiv scored in double digits.
Tymchenko’s men now have 55 points and trail league leaders Liepaja by three points, although Kyiv have two games in hand. One of them will take place on February 23, when the Capitals face another title contender, Mogo/RSU.
