Glazachev sinks Spartak

Dynamo Moscow battled to a 2-1 verdict over city rival Spartak in a typically uncompromising derby encounter Saturday. Konstantin Glazachev got the game-winner midway through the third period., collecting Maxim Solovyov’s pass on the blue line and turning swiftly to cut out the Spartak defense before advancing on Jeff Glass and poking a shot through the five-hole to settle a game which – initially – had looked as if it might be a comfortable home win.

If Spartak came to Luzhniki scenting unusual weakness in its cross-town rival, a blistering opening period from the hosts left most wondering how Dynamo led just 1-0 at the first interval. From the moment the puck was dropped the home side snapped into action, displaying greater cohesion and alertness than had been seen two days ago against Lokomotiv. Even a penalty call on Glazachev could not slow the progress: the home penalty kill was impressive, and Konstantin Gorovikov came close to a short-handed goal on a Leo Komarov pass.

So it was little surprise that Dynamo took full advantage of its first powerplay of the night – just 11 seconds of numerical advantage saw Maxim Karpov feed Yury Babenko to lash a powerful shot past Glass.

The second session was more evenly matched, and the most dramatic action of the early minutes saw Filip Novak and Viktor Bobrov drop the gloves for a brawl behind the goal after the Spartak forward infuriated his opponent with a heavy challenge on goalie Alexander Lazushin after his solo run was halted on the slot. Fraying tempers rarely produce fluent hockey, and scrappier play from both sides helped knock Dynamo off its stride. Those bubbling tempers clearly left Bobrov unruffled, however, as he returned from his five-minute penalty to level the scores with a one-timer from the right-hand circle.

It wasn’t enough, however; Glazachev’s goal was followed by a couple of ill-timed penalties on Spartak which effectively ended its chances of forcing overtime.