Jānis Sprukts (5) waits for the puck to be delivered in front of a well-guarded Salavat Julajev Ufa goal. Photo by Jared Grellet.

RIGA — Dinamo Riga had a disappointing start to their 09/10 KHL season this evening, going down to reigning champions Salavat Julajev Ufa 5-1.

A near-capacity crowd of 10,344 turned up at Arēna Rīga, confident of their sides chances with Dinamo Riga having already defeated Salavat Julajev Ufa preseason. However, tonight showed that preseason results shouldn’t be read into too much with the Russians showing signs that they will again be one of the top-ranked teams come playoff time.

Once early nerves had settled, it was the visitors who scored first through Andrejs Taratuhins nearly nine minutes into the game. But the crowd was not silenced for long with Lee Sweatt pegging exactly one minute later putting the teams back on level. The Dinamo Riga defender scored from just inside the zone. Fans became even more animated not long after when Dinamo Riga were given the first power play of the evening, but nothing came of it.

The game remained tight throughout most of the second period and it was not until the 19th minute when Alexander Perezhogin broke the deadlock to put the Russians up 2-1. Unfortunately for the Latvians, the Russians were able to pounce on a misguided pass less than a minute later with Alexander Radulov beating Dinamo Riga goalie Martin Prusek one-on-one, giving Salavat Julajev Ufa a healthy 3-1 lead.

Things did not get better for Dinamo Riga in the final quarter with Prusek going off injured after just two minutes. This saw Edgars Masaļskis introduced into the game. Masaļskis did not get off to the best of starts with the first shot on goal going straight past him to put Salavat Julajev Ufa up by 3. The final damage was done in the 13th minute when Miroslav Blatak pounced on another weak pass to score his team’s 5th and final game

Catching up after the game, goalscorer Sweatt acknowledged that work had to be done on the team’s defensive patterns while also adding that the team had played to the gameplan and it was just little mistakes that really cost them, mistakes they can’t afford to make against a top side such as Salavat Julajev Ufa. “Going on today and preseason they are certainly one of the strongest teams that we have seen so far and they are going to be one of the top teams,” Sweatt told Baltic Reports.

Dinamo Riga have a day off before their next home game against Avangard Monday night. Avangard also began their campaign today, losing 1-0 away to Baris in overtime.