There was little Edgars Masaļskis could do to rescue his team as they went down 3-2. Photo used courtesy of Dinamo Riga.
RIGA — Dinamo Riga have lost their latest KHL game 3-2 to Traktors in Arena Riga on Saturday evening.
Dinamo Riga were made to pay for early complacency as they found themselves down 2-0 before they had offered anything up in attack with Traktor dominating proceedings. Their first goal went to Alexei Zavaruhin in the 5th minute which was followed by the 2nd to Andrej Popov in the 12th minute. Thursday’s 4-0 victory over a lethargic Avtomobilist was seemingly doing them no favors.
Fortunately for the near sell-out crowd of 9,480 Marcel Hossa offered up some optimism when he got one back for the home side in the final minute of the period.
The goal and some strict words from trainer Julius Supler saw a much livelier Dinamo Riga on the ice in the second period but this liveliness could not be converted into goals as Traktors remained staunch on defense. After two unsuccessful power play, frustrations in the Dinamo Riga camp began to show with tempers flaring. An inability to control their emotions resulted in Jekabs Redlihs being sent for an early shower, Sandis Ozoliņš being given two minutes, Roberts Bukarts being handed five minutes and Janis Sprukts being given two minutes, leaving a depleted Dinamo Riga team on the ice for the closing minutes of the period. The pressure finally told with two seconds remaining when Edgars Masaļskis was slow at recovering in net leaving Konstantin Kasanchuk with an easy tap in, but not before an extended deliberation amongst the referees.
Dinamo Riga were left with all the work to do in the final period. To the disappointment of the home fans, it was work that they could complete. A Miķelis Rēdlihs goal did offer some hope and they were certainly not without their chances to claim the crucial third goal but too many passes went astray with Dinamo Riga looking panicky on their power plays and uncommunicative around the ice.
With the regular season rapidly coming to an end, Dinamo Riga can not afford to lose any more of the eight remaining home games, and will need to win at least half of their games on their road if they are to eke into the playoffs.
Their final push starts Monday evening when they host competition front runners Magnitigorsk Metalurgs. Their performance needs to be a lot more polished than this evening effort.
Sweatt’s time in Latvia comes to an end
Lee Sweatt has played his last game in Dinamo Riga colors, leaving the team on mutual terms at the end of last week. The American started the season in a flurry with two goals in his first two games but it has been no secret that he has not always seen eye to eye with Supler with his form and number of playing minutes subsequently suffering. When an offer came up to play in Finland with the promise of more minutes Sweatt was happy to sign on the dotted line with Dinamo Riga not standing in his way.
As one leaves another arrives with Martins Karsums expecting a massive homecoming when he takes the ice, perhaps as early as Monday. The former Tampa Bay star had decided to return to his roots and will be a welcome inclusion to the Dinamo Riga offense. The signing has been in the works for a number of weeks and the fact that it has come at the same time as Sweatt’s departure is nothing but a coincidence.
