NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia — A poor second period ultimately cost Dinamo Riga going down 7-2 to hosts, Torpedo in their away game in the KHL.

Having been unable to capitalize of a 4-on-3 power play early in the game, Dinamo Riga were made to pay when they found themselves on the receiving end of a power play a few minutes later with Mihail Varnakov making no mistake in putting Torpedo up 1-0 after seven and a half minutes.

Following this early set-back Dinamo Riga settled into their game, showing glimpses of their recent good form with a Marcel Hossa goal in the 18th minute quickly followed up by another to Lauris Dārziņš 28 seconds later to see the visitors take a 2-1 lead into the second period.

That was the last of the good news for the Latvians as the start of the second period saw their lead diminish in just over a minute as Renat Mamashev struck early for the home team. Things went from bad to worse for Dinamo Riga, as Mamashev’s goal was followed by another two for Torpedo in the period, with Victor Aleksandrov scoring his team’s third in the 11th minute, before Varnakov added his second and his team’s fourth in the 15th. Worst for Dinamo Riga was that they had allowed Varnakov’s goal to come during a power play in their advantage.

Dinamo Riga sunk further into trouble in the final period courtesy of a Varnakov hat-trick goal in the eighth minute. Following the goal, tempers flared resulting in an all-out brawl in front of the Dinamo Riga goal as the ten minute mark approached. The fracas resulted in Latvian goalie Martins Prusek receiving two minutes in the sin bin while Torpedo’s Gregory Shafigulen received four minutes for two separate offences.

Just a minute later though, Dinamo Riga were back to a full line up after Maxim Potopov scored Torpedos sixth goal. The goal effectively placed Dinamo Riga on a three minute power play, but again they were unable to capitalize. Vadim Shakhraychuk capped off the drubbing when he added his team’s seventh and final goal in the 17th minute.

Riga will be hoping for reversed fortunes when they finish their road trip in Moscow on Saturday night where they face CSKA Moscow. CSKA are sitting just above Dinamo Riga on the table, even though they’ve just had one win when they beat Dinamo Minsk in their most recent outing.