Mārtiņš Cipulis (47) stops his opposite in his tracks as Sandis Ozoliņš (8) attempts to reach the loose puck. Photo used courtesy of Dinamo Riga.

CHELYABINSK, Russia — Sharp goalkeeping from Traktors in overtime was enough to help the home side clinch a 5-4 victory over Dinamo Riga Tuesday.

With just over eleven minutes gone in the game Dinamo Riga seemed to be staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat as the home side rushed out to a 3-0 lead. Their first came on their first power play of the evening when Pier Darshene converted in the seventh minute to put the home side up 1-0. Just over two minutes later this lead was extended to two courtesy of Parvel Boichenko. When Andrei Popov added a third with just over 11 minutes gone, things were beginning to look dire for Dinamo Riga. However, they did manage to pull one back courtesy of another from goal-scoring machine Marcel Hossa before the end of the period to make the scoreboard look somewhat more respectable.

In the second period fortunes changed as it was Dinamo Riga’s turn to go on something of a scoring spree, beginning with a fine shot from Lauris Dārziņš on a fast break in the eighth minute. Just over four minutes later as the clock began to run out on a Dinamo Riga power play, Sandis Ozoliņš managed to convert from a deflection close in to tie the game up. The momentum was now well and truly in Dinamo Riga’s favor. This was all the more evident just a minute later when Ozoliņš added his second of the night, with his pass from the top of third evading everyone to find the back of the net. 4-3 Dinamo Riga and the home crowd had been silenced for the time being. Like the first period, more was still to come and when Ravel Gusmanov scored in the eighteenth, the crowd and players alike prepared themselves for a tense final period.

Dinamo Riga goalie Edgars Masaļskis (31) secures the puck after a Traktors attempt at the goal. Masaļskis let five goals slide through that game. Photo used courtesy of Dinamo Riga.

However, the final period was somewhat somber compared to the previous two as neither team managed to capitalize on their limited chances. With neither team willing to give an inch, the fast open hockey of the previous two periods gave way to a more defensive style of game play. This meant Dinamo Riga were heading to their first overtime shootout of the season.

Shooting first, Aleksandrs Ņiživijs made no mistake at beating the goalie to give Dinamo Riga a 1-0 lead in the shootout. However, this was as good as it got for Dinamo Riga as some solid defense from the Traktors goalie made sure this was the last goal he was letting through. Unfortunately Dinamo Riga could not produce the same results in goal at the other end as Traktors went on to win the shootout (2-1) to take the game 5-1.

Dinamo Riga will now return to a home crowd on Sunday to take on Amur. With such a busy season schedule they will be relishing in the opportunity to have some down time over the next few days.