Miķelis Rēdlihs (19) vies for position in front of the Metalurg goal, obscuring the vision of the Metalurg goalie for Guntis Galviņš' shot to find the back of the net. Photo used courtesy of Dinamo Riga.
RIGA — Dinamo Riga held on in a gripping final period to beat KHL leaders Magnitogorsk Metalurg 3-2.
It was a completely different Dinamo Riga team to what we saw on Saturday night with every line performing with distinction. Ģirts Ankipāns skated like a man half his age and Mārtiņš Cipulis was back to his damaging best after a relatively quiet start to the new year.
There had been much anticipation leading up to the game, mainly due to the well documented arrival of Mārtiņš Karsums to the club after being traded to Dinamo Riga from the NHL club New Jersey Devils for the remainder of the season.
It was a fluid transition for Karsums who looked completely in motion with his new team, helped in no small part that he plays on the Latvian national team with a large portion of the squad. It did not take long for him to be involved in the action when his line produced a goal in the 2nd minute. Guntis Galviņš shot from the edge of the third and the goalie stood little chance with a completely obscured view of where the shot was coming from.
Robert Petrovicky and Jānis Sprukts combined soon after to double the lead in just the 6th minute. Petrovicky let go of a long pass which Sprukts easily latched on to before beating the goalie with a fine slapshot to the back right corner of the net.
In the 9th minute Karsums nearly had his first goal latching on to a fine pass from Ankipāns. Unfortunately he was to be denied by the foot of a scrambling goalie. It was without doubt the best start Dinamo Riga has been able to produce this season, firing a number of quality shots on goal.
The fine start by Dinamo Riga was tainted as the 10th minute approached when Stanislav Chistov grabbed one back for the visitors. Appearing in goal for the first time in a number of games, Martins Prusek had looked unfazed up until the goal.
Dinamo Riga again looked ominous in the second period with their third goal coming in the 12th minute. The goal was in many ways a replica of their second. This time it was Mārtiņš Cipulis who was the benefactor of the long pass after Kristaps Sotnieks forced the defensive turnover. Like Sprukts in the first, he made no mistake of his one-on-one opportunity with the goalie.
An almost floorless period came undone as the buzzer approached with a lapse in the defence’s concentration proving costly as Stanislav skated through Dinamo Riga with ease to make it a double for the night.
The late goal in the previous period gave the visitors the spark they had been looking for, forcing Dinamo Riga into a defensive game as they took control of the game. However spurred on by some fine defense from Sotnieks and Sandis Ozoliņš, Dinamo Riga managed to remain staunch surviving a number of frights.
It took nearly two and half periods for the first powerplay of the night to occur but once the first came, more followed in a flurry with Dinamo Riga given the first before being forced to defend for the next two. Dinamo Riga were scrambling more than once but were able to hold on.
It was a smallish crowd of just under 7,000 who turned up for the performance but as the final hooter sounded, one could be mistaken for thinking it was a sell-out.
It has become typical for Dinamo Riga to save their best for the big games as they continue to struggle in games that they should in all rights win, only to then turn around and match it with some of the competition’s top teams.
Dinamo Riga can now ill afford to be complacent as they prepare to take on Moscow Spartak on Wednesday. If they play with anywhere near the quality that they showed this evening it should be an easy win for Dinamo Riga but as they have proven more than once, nothing is a given in this competition.
