Dinamo Minsk end homestand with win against Traktor Chelyabinsk

Three goals in a span of the last 10 minutes secured Dinamo Minsk a solid 4-2 win over the visiting Traktor Chelyabinsk at Minsk Arena on 28 November.

Dinamo Minsk completed a four-game homestand with three wins and left the bottom of the Western Conference catching up in points with Slovan Bratislava.

The game on Thursday started with an array of attacks by the home team. The Minskers pressurized the guests seemingly all over the rink and took the absolute control of the game midway through the opening period. A high-sticking penalty on Andrei Stas did not catch the hosts flatfooted, as Dinamo blew the game open on Geoff Platt’s shorthanded goal at 12:10 on the scoreboard. Stealing the puck from the opponents Tomas Surovy and Geoff Platt raced off in two on a counterattack and the latter fired it past Chelyabinsk goalie Michael Garnett for 1-0 lead. Four minutes later Andrei Popov got Traktor on the board when he found himself in a perfect position to beat Minsk goaltender Lars Haugen for a 1-1 tie.

The second period was full of momentum swings that eventually ended up going Chelyabinsk's way, culminating at 7:36 when Yevgeny Kuznetsov’s goal to put the guests up 2-1.

Dinamo’s Ilya Kaznadei made Chelyabinsk lost their lead some 20 minutes later. The Minsk defenceman's second of the season evened the game midway through the final period. Alexander Kitarov scored the third for Dinamo to break a 2-2 tie late in the third, sending the home crowd of 10,800, up on their feet, into a frenzy.

Yevgeny Nogachev put the game out of reach with 54 seconds left to play with his empty netter, his first KHL goal.

Dinamo Minsk is 12 points away from the playoff zone.

The team’s forthcoming road series will include games against Sibir Novosibirsk (2 December), Metallurg Novokuznetsk (4 December), Amur Khabarovsk (6 December), and Admiral Vladivostok (8 December).