Minsk revival continues

There was only one KHL game Friday, but the meeting in Minsk served up plenty of action. Unfortunately for Avangard and goalie Teemu Lassila, much of it was around its net as the Omsk side went down to its eighth consecutive defeat, losing out 4-3 to Dinamo thanks to Ilya Kaznadei’s goal in the 34th minute.

That came after a helter-skelter first period which ended 3-2 to the home side – and saw Lassila withdrawn at the first interval. The Finnish goalie has struggled in Siberia this season and his pre-game save ratio of 86.3% took another battering as he allowed three from 13 shots in the opening 20 minutes. Alexei Yefimenko, Geoff Platt and Andrei Stas were the beneficiaries.

Kaznadei, meanwhile, picked up his first ever KHL goal. The 24-year-old defenseman scored on Denis Kostin with a slapshot to settle the outcome. Avangard fought hard in the third period, outshooting Dinamo 12-1, but could find no way past Kevin Lalande in the Belarusian goal. After a poor start to the season, Dinamo now has three wins from four. Avangard is in serious need of a similar revival.