Robert Petrovicky (16) goes seeking his second of the night, before seeing the game out from the bench following a confrontation in the final period. Photo used courtesy of Dinamo Riga.
RIGA — Two late goals allowed Dinamo Riga to rise up and defeat Spartak 3-2.
With ten minutes to go it looked like it would be a completely different result with Dinamo Riga playing uninspired hockey as both teams failed to take control of proceedings. With 12 players spending time in the penalty box it was nothing compared to the hockey which had been on display on Monday evening. Nonetheless, Dinamo Riga will be more than relieved to walk away with the victory.
Looking for four from four against Spartak this season, things started well when they found themselves up 1-0 through Robert Petrovicky after 11 minutes of play. Only coming into the squad halfway through the season, Petrovicky has quickly established himself as one of the leaders in the Dinamo Riga squad.
However the lead was short-lived with a mix up in front of the Dinamo Riga goal leaving Evgeny Lapinkov with the easiest of tap-ins to tie the game up 1-1.
Martin Karija and Lauris Dārziņš came the closest to breaking the deadlock in the second period in the 16th minute but the final touches were alluding them this evening. Again in the 18th minute Dārziņš was involved in the action but again the final touch alluded him, as the puck skipped past him in front of the net.
For the second game in a row Dinamo Riga were made to pay for complacency as the period came to a close. With his team on a power-play, goalie Martin Prusek moved behind the goal for the simplest of clearances only for Spartak’s Knyazev Kirill to intercept the puck and skate around the front of the net to find an open goal.
Starting the final period on a power-play gave Dinamo Riga just the advantage they needed but this looked like it simply was not going to be there night with Lady Luck not on their side, as two more shots missed by millimeters. Soon it seemed that the crucial calls were also going against them, seeing one fan express his anger by throwing his lighter at the referee.
Finally in the 14th minute Dinamo Riga were able to produce the equaliser, as just like on so many other occasions this season they turned to Marcel Hossa to be their saviour, who backed himself from just inside the third with Dmitri Kotchnev in goal standing no chance of catching up with the shot.
The goal brought Dinamo Riga to life, with a further coming through Oļegs Sorokins on a power-play less than a minute later. Sorokins was able to work his way into the perfect position to take the pass from Aleksandrs Ņiživijs, scoring on one knee directly in front of the net.
After the game Mike Iggulden admitted that during the first two periods Dinamo Riga were not working as hard as they had on Monday night and they were letting the game get away from them, being out-shot in the first two periods. Fortunately they were able to bring it back in the final period. Iggulden also added that with just 11 games left, every game has an added importance with their up and coming road trip holding an added importance.
With their nearest rivals Torpedo managing just one point this evening Dinamo Riga now move within two points of making the play-offs. Dinamo Riga also have the advantage of having a game in hand.
The coming four games are by far the biggest of the season as they travel to Moscow to take on Dinamo Moscow on Friday evening. Following the game they will also play away to the high-flying SKA who are all but assured of finishing top of the table, before traveling to Severstal who remain one of Dinamo Riga’s closet rivals, currently sitting two points adrift of the Latvians. The final game of the road trip will be no easier when they come up against an Atlant team bent on revenge after their loss to Dinamo Riga earlier in the season.
