Dynamo leads in the West

Defending champion Dynamo Moscow climbed to the top of the Western Conference - despite the efforts of former player Miroslav Satan. Satan scored twice for Slovan Bratislava, but could not prevent Dynamo winning 3-2. The first period was dominated by Alexander Ovechkin: the Dynamo star had a hand in Denis Kokarev’s opener before making it 2-0 himself on 14:49. Satan pulled one back in the second, but Grigory Shafilgulin’s goal right at the start of the third period gave the Moscow men vital breathing space, despite Satan’s second strike on 55 minutes.

Mirnov on the mark again
Igor Mirnov just can’t stop scoring – and he found the net for the fifth game in a row as Salavat Yulaev earned a shoot-out win at bitter rivals Ak Bars. Mirnov tied the game at 3-3 early in the third, and that was enough to force overtime in a lively encounter in Kazan. Earlier Salavat had taken the lead in the third minute thanks to young defenseman Yefim Gurkin’s first of the season, but Ak Bars twice led during regulation time. Alexander Stepanov got the shoot-out winner.

Spartak’s big win
Spartak beat Dinamo Minsk 4-1 – but the comfortable win owed a lot to goaltender Sergei Borisov’s 45 saves. Only Tim Stapleton could find a way past the Spartak goalie, and his third-period effort was too late to inspire a recovery. Defenseman Andrei Shefer got the game-winner – his second goal in two games – during a decisive second period show from the Moscow side.

Vityaz adds to Donbass’ woes
Donbass Donetsk has been finding it difficult to adjust to life in the KHL – and a home defeat to perennial strugglers Vityaz Chekhov underlined the extent to which errors are punished at this level. The opening goal came when Artemy Panarin was hooked by Peter Podhradsky and stepped up to convert the subsequent penalty shot. Following Jani Tuppurainen’s equalizer, it was another slip which cost Donbass the game: a 48th-minute interception ultimately presented the experienced Alexei Badyukov with the chance to seal a 2-1 success.

Shut-out for Koshechkin
Severstal’s Gennady Stolyarov was the key man for the Cherepovets side as he got the only goal at Dinamo Riga. Evgeny Ketov wasted a good chance to double the lead with a late penalty shot, but he couldn’t find a way past Maris Jucers. Vasily Koshechkin made 29 saves for the shut-out.