Oleg Tymchenko’s team defeated HS Riga for the second time in 18 days.
Kyiv Capitals (Ukraine) – HS Riga (Latvia) – 4:1 (2:1; 1:0; 1:0)
Goals: 1:0 – Honcharenko, 02:38; 2:0 – Karsums (Honcharenko, Shamardin), 17:35; 2:1 – Valbahs (Polis, – shorthanded), 19:19; 3:1 – Hu (Fursa, Kryvonozhkin), 27:55; 4:1 – Hu (Karsums), 41:01
Kyiv Capitals: Nazar Boiko; Vitalii Andreykiv – Eduards Hugo Jansons, Martins Karsums (c) – Lauris Bajaruns – Rustams Begovs; Maksims Sirokovs – Valentyn Sirchenko, Yang Hu – Andrii Kryvonozhkin – Daniil Fursa; Andrejs Kostuks – Ivan Shamardin, Denys Honcharenko – Danylo Tsarkovskyi – Renars Cipruss; Oleksii Melnykov, Marat Saroka – Alexandrs Novikovs – Kristians Zelts.
Head Coach: Oleg Tymchenko
HS Riga: Kristers Plepis; Markuss Ansons – Herberts Laugalis, Alexandrs Biskins – Roberts Janis Polis – Karlis Nauris Ceslis; Daniils Danovskis – Tomas Erdmanis Hermanis, Stefans Rots – Davids Danilovs – Felikss Niks Paurs; Kristaps Kandis – Elmars Muiznieks, Karlis Tamenieks – Makss Mihailovs – Gustavs Spigulis (c); Aleksejs Danovskis, Lenards Janis Sprieslis – Ernests Valbahs – Matvejs Bakalovs.
Head Coach: Juris Ozols
The Capitals ended November with a matchup against the league’s bottom team. However, there was no room for relaxation, considering how tense the previous meeting between these sides had been.
Karsums returned to the lineup for this game, while Augstkalns was absent. Meanwhile, Boiko was trusted to start in goal right from the opening minutes.
Our team managed to score relatively quickly. Honcharenko battled for the puck in the offensive zone, picked it up, and sent it past Plepis.
Riga had more than a minute and a half to play in a 5×3 power play, but failed to capitalize. In turn, the Capitals also missed a chance to capitalize on a minimal man advantage – yet they soon doubled the lead. Karsums found space in the slot and marked his comeback with his 10th goal of the season.
The visitors didn`t give up and scored before the first intermission – and they did it shorthanded. Andreikiv made an error near his own net, and Polis intercepted the puck, finding Valbahs, who finished the chance brilliantly against Boiko.
In the second period, Hu restored the two-goal margin. Yang raced past the defender in style and left Plepis with no chance.
The Canadian forward also put the final point in this game. Early in the third, Biskins failed to intercept Karsums’ pass from behind the net. Hu gathered the puck, beat Plepis, and hit the empty side of Riga’s goal.
Thus, our team defeated the Riga side for the third time this season and now shares first place with Liepaja, who beat Prizma – both teams sitting at 34 points.
On December 3, Kyiv Capitals will host the Estonian club Panter.
