Riga and Ak Bars lead the way. August 21 pre-season. Latvian Railways Cup

Tournament host Dinamo Riga and contender Ak Bars completed day two of the Latvian Railways Cup with unbeaten records. Ak Bars started with a 5-2 win over Avtomobilist before Dinamo downed Lokomotiv 3-1.

Zaripov stars in Ak Bars win

Ak Bars began the tournament with a routine 3-0 victory over Dinamo Minsk. In the second game, it faced Avtomobilist and recorded another win by a three-goal margin. This time, though, the Kazan team only secured the verdict at the end of the game. Danis Zaripov got the game-winner in the 56^th minute and he collected three points on the night.

Avtomobilist’s big summer signing Pavel Datsyuk is still waiting to make his debut for his new team, but the was a goal for another newcomer in Yekaterinburg, Geoff Platt.

Ak Bars Kazan 5 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 2 (1-1, 1-0, 3-1)

Goals: 1-0 Galimov (Galiyev, Zaripov 3:53 PP); 1-1 Berezin (Litovchenko 19:57); 2-1 Galiyev (29:51 SH); 2-2 Platt (Tryamkin 50:27); 3-2 Zaripov (Galiyev 55:25); 4-2 Galimov (Osnovin, Fisenko 58:53); 5-2 Galiyev (Zaripov 59:50).

Goalies: Reideborn – Fomin

Dinamo maintains 100% start

Host club Dinamo Riga took on a Lokomotiv team starting its campaign at this year’s Latvian Railways Cup. Loko’s head coach Craig MacTavish continued his policy of testing out as many different lines as possible during pre-season and sent out Stepan Sannikov, Anton Lander and Pavel Kudryavtsev as his top line here.

Photo: 21.08.19. Latvian Railway Cup. Dinamo (Riga) - Lokomotiv (Yaroslavl)

That combination clicked early on as Lokomotiv took a third-minute lead, but Dinamo was not about to be denied. Loko ran into penalty trouble and Riga tied the game during a 5-on-3 advantage late in the opening stanza. The game brought goals from new signings Jacob Berglund and David Ullstrom, while Carter Ashton added an assist to the two goals he scored yesterday. Dinamo and Ak Bars are out in front in the tournament table, both with two wins from two games.

Dinamo Riga 3 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 1 (1-1, 1-0, 1-0)

Goals: 0-1 Kudryavtsev (Sannikov, Lander 2:59); 1-1 J Berglund (Ashton, Ullstrom 18:54 PP); 2-1 Gegeris (37:01); 3-1 Ullstrom (Redlihs 48:02)

Goalies: Gudlevskis – Konovalov