Oleg Tymchenko’s men defeated the reigning two-time champions in an away game.
Mogo/RSU (Latvia) – Kyiv Capitals (Ukraine) – 2:3 (0:3; 2:0; 0:0)
Goals: 0:1 – Bajaruns (Begovs, Karsums, – power play), 09:23; 0:2 – Kostjuks (Karsums, Begovs), 11:14; 0:3 – Honcharenko, 12:06; 1:3 – Ansons (Bicevskis, Daugavins, – power play), 21:00; 2:3 – Redlihs (Krums, Sarkanis), 31:50.
Mogo/RSU: Karlis Mezsargs; Krisjanis Redlihs – Renarts Berzins, Kaspars Daugavins (c) – Kristers Ansons – Maris Bicevskis; Kristaps Jakobsons – Kristaps Sotnieks, Gatis Sprukts – Elvis Zelubovskis – Kaspars Ziemins; Anatolijs Tovariss – Aleks Elians Leonovs, Deivids Sarkanis – Ernests Krums – Janis Zemitis; Vladimirs Zaicevs – Reinis Martins Lejnieks, Ralfs Dragons – Timurs Solostejs – Rolands Vasiļjevs
Head coach: Girts Ankipans.
Kyiv Capitals: Janis Voris; Vitalii Andreykiv – Eduards Hugo Jansons, Martins Karsums (c) – Lauris Bajaruns – Rustams Begovs; Andrejs Kostjuks – Edmunds Augstkalns, Danylo Tsarkovskyi – Daniil Fursa – Renars Cipruss; Oleksii Melnykov – Ivan Shamardin, Yang Hu – Andrii Kryvonozhkin – Denys Honcharenko; Oleksandr Valkun – Maksims Sirokovs, Aleksandrs Novikovs – Marat Soroka – Denys Plesovskykh
Head coach: Oleg Tymchenko.
In the away clash with Girts Ankipans’ side, Voris once again started in goal, while the Capitals’ first line returned to its opening-season setup.
As it turned out, the middle of the first period became decisive. In less than three minutes, Kyiv struck three times. It began with a well-executed power play – Bajaruns finished off Begovs’ cross-ice pass at the far post to open the scoring.
That goal energized the Capitals, who pushed forward at even strength. Kostjuks fired from near the blue line to beat Mezsargs for a second, and shortly after, Honcharenko intercepted the puck and finished coolly into the corner for a third.
Mogo/RSU couldn’t recover from the blow in the opening 20 minutes. However, the hosts responded early in the second period. A penalty against Begovs was punished efficiently, as Ansons buried a strong finish from his linemates’ setup.
Midway through the period, Redlihs reduced the deficit to one, raising the intensity of the match. Still, for nearly half the game, neither side could find another goal, despite both enjoying three power-play opportunities.
With this win, Kyiv Capitals moved to 13 points in the standings, securing first place. Zemgale/LBTU also sits in 13th place but trails in head-to-head results.
On October 8, Tymchenko’s team will face the Panthers away for the second time this season.
