#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. HC Norilsk scored four unanswered goals in the third period and won the sixth match out of eight. Mikhail Varnakov scored his first double of the season, Andrey Galushkin gave three assists, and Alexey Mastryukov also scored three points. For the first time in three meetings, the northerners were able to realize a majority and defeated Dynamo St. Petersburg on their site.
“It’s a tough game. The first two periods are probably the worst since the beginning of the season”, head coach of the Bears Aidar Musakayev noted after the final siren. “Perhaps it was the fact that this was the third game in a row. But still, guys were good. We rallied in the third period and the majority worked. We made our fans happy. The key point was that we scored two goals in a row on the power play. If we hadn’t caught on to this, it would probably have been more difficult. The opponent is no slouch either. I am grateful to the team for the third period, and I apologize to the fans for the first two ones. These are probably the worst two periods of the entire championship”.
Shamil Shmakov, who last took to the ice on January 15, 2022, took his place in the Dynamo goal from the first minutes. The home team managed to upset him with the very first shot – Danila Dyadenkin scored from passes from Vladislav Kaletnik and Nikita Kolesnikov.
In the middle of the starting third, Vladimir Mikhasenko, who had joined the ranks of the St. Petersburg team, managed to hit the target twice.
Alexey Mastryukov equalized the score 49 seconds after Mikhasenko’s second goal, beating Shmakov with passes from Konstantin Klimontov and Andrey Galushkin. The latter was promoted after scoring the winning goal in the match against Ryazan-VDV. On Sunday the Norilsk newcomer was announced as the 13th striker, but this time he was placed in the top three with Mastryukov and Varnakov. The crowd’s favorite Mikhail Anisin, who did not take to the ice in the second and third periods of the previous meeting, remained out of the lineup.
Nikita Buruyanov brought Dynamo ahead in the middle of the second play period, but the main events of the match awaited the audience in the final 20 minutes. Norilsk could not convert the majority for two matches, despite the abundance of chances. This time, Musakayev’s team managed to send a game ball into the net in a 5 on 3 format, but the referees canceled the goal due to kicking the puck. However, after that the visitors grabbed two more minor penalties in a row, and the “northern bears” finally took advantage of their chance.
Varnakov hit the target twice in a 5v4 format and put his team ahead. Konstantin Hremkin and Nikita Kolesnikov scored once each, knocking out their opponents. It is worth noting that Mikhail Patrikeyev also scored one point for performance and regained the championship in the dispute of the best scorers in the league among defenders. Andrey Galushkin scored an assist hat-trick, fully justifying the coaching staff’s confidence, and Konstantin Klimontov scored two assists – thus, he has 0+5 in four matches.
“Everything was rather good until the start of the third period”, Dynamo head coach Yaroslav Lyuzenkov complained. “We warned the guys that there could be deletions. And immediately the three of us left. I don’t know how to persuade the guys to concentrate on playing. As a result, we got two goals in the minority. The opponent gained inspiration, and we ran to win back – we opened up. The whole front ran to score a goal an got another one. We lost the third period completely, although we also need points. We generally have a problem with the goalkeeper line. One goalkeeper went to the first team – to Dynamo Moscow. The other is injured. The fourth one played today. Because the third goalkeeper was also a little out of shape”.
Norilsk is in its best shape since the beginning of the championship. After the victory over the St. Petersburg team, Aidar Musakayev’s boys remain in the playoff zone – they already have six victories in the last eight matches.
The Norilsk’s next opponent will also be a team from the Northern capital – SKA-Neva will take to the ice of the Arctic. The meeting will take place on Thursday, October 19th. Starts at 15:00 Moscow time. The live broadcast of the match can be viewed on the Severny Gorod website.
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Text: Andrey Osadchenko, Photo: HC Norilsk
