Oleg Tymchenko’s men led three times during the game but managed to overcome their opponent in overtime.
Liepaja (Latvia) – Kyiv Capitals (Ukraine) – 3:4, OT (0:1; 2:1; 1:1; 0:1)
Goals: 0:1 – Honcharenko (Shamardin, Hu), 16:44; 1:1 – A. Berzins (Zile, Vutkevics), 27:59; 1:2 – Zelts (Karsums, Bajaruns, – power play), 30:39; 2:2 – Ozolins (Krumins), 31:32; 2:3 – Hu (Fursa), 53:48; 3:3 – Vutkevics (short-handed), 59:51; 3:4 – Honcharenko (Hu, Kostjuks), 61:00.
Liepāja: Michael Valenta; Ralfs Grinbergs (c) – Gustavs Krumins, Kevins Stradnieks – Valters Niedrajs – Karlis Ozolins; Pauls Svars – Kristians Berzins, Niks Zile – Rinalds Vutkevics – Daniels Andersons; Adrians Berzins – Alberts Emils Snepste, Dominykas Sadauskas – Kristers Kuznecovs – Niklavs Lagzdins; Reinholds Circenis – Endijs Butans, Roberts Freidenfelds – Kristers Butans – Rudolfs Laivenieks
Head coach: Edgars Brancis
Kyiv Capitals: Janis Voris; Vitalii Andreykiv – Eduards Hugo Jansons, Martins Karsums (c) – Lauris Bajaruns – Rustams Begovs; Andrejs Kostjuks – Edmunds Augstkalns, Danylo Tsarkovskyi – Daniil Fursa – Aleksandrs Novikovs; Oleksii Melnykov – Ivan Shamardin, Yang Hu – Andrii Kryvonozhkin – Denys Honcharenko; Valentyn Sirchenko – Maksims Sirokovs, Oleksandr Valkun – Renars Cipruss – Kristians Zelts
Head coach: Oleg Tymchenko
Before their second meeting with Liepaja, the Capitals made one change to the lineup. Sirchenko returned to complete the set of eight defensemen, while Plesovskykh was left out of the roster.
In the opening 20 minutes, the hosts had two power-play opportunities but failed to capitalize on them. Instead, Honcharenko opened the scoring with a powerful shot that beat Valenta.
The second period was much more productive, with all the goals scored within an active four-minute stretch midway through the frame.
Liepaja equalized thanks to 15-year-old defenseman Adrians Berzins, who, after a perfect pass from Zile, confidently finished in front of Voris.
The Capitals regained the lead by converting their second power play. Bajaruns stole the puck from Svars, and Karsums set up Zelts for a shot. Kristians didn’t miss, scoring his third goal in the last two games.
However, the hosts leveled again before the second intermission. Ozolins was the first to the rebound after Krumins’ shot, beating Voris for the second time.
In the next period, Tymchenko’s men took the lead for the third time. Hu, after Fursa’s pass, fought to the end in front of the net and sent the puck past Valenta on his third attempt.
The situation worsened for the Latvian side when Zile received a 5+20 penalty five minutes before the end of regulation. Still, Brancis didn’t give up – he pulled Valenta for an extra attacker in the final two minutes, and it paid off. Vutkevics surprised Voris with a sharp-angle shot nine seconds before the final buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
It took only one minute of extra time to determine the winner. Honcharenko’s top-corner shot brought Kyiv another two points. Notably, this was already the team’s fifth away victory of the season.
Currently, Oleg Tymchenko’s men have 17 points, which allows them to remain at the top of the standings. On October 15, the Capitals will host Riga’s Prizma.
