Battling Dragons restore pride, force OT

25 October 2024

Kunlun Red Star 3 CSKA Moscow 4 OT

A much-improved KRS performance proved that Wednesday’s heavy defeat was an aberration. Today, the guys were so close to adding to our tradition of battling OT wins against CSKA, only to be denied in the extras by Ruslan Iskhakov’s winner.

However, the spirit we saw in a third-period fightback from 1-3 is worth even more than a first point in five games.

There was a welcome return to action for Colin Campbell, absent since Sep. 17 due to injury. He joined Nolan Moyle and Austin Wong on the third line. Campbell’s return had a ripple effect throughout the roster, with Hudson Elynuik moving to the third line and Semyon Sinyatkin named at 13^th forward. There were also changes on defense, with Jake Chelios rejoining Adam Clendening in the first pair, Yury Pautov replacing Martin Lefebvre and Alexei Kozhevnikov sitting this one out. Konstantin Volkov continued in goal after replacing Kyle Keyser during Wednesday’s loss to SKA.

Meanwhile, Friday’s Dragons had work to do after that midweek game. Everybody was desperate to lift the mood around the club, even if we were facing an opponent that won its previous game 7-0.

The early stages were open, with both sides looking to play on the front foot. However, there was a blow for Red Star after five minutes when Denis Guryanov put the visitor in front. It would have been easy for heads to go down at that point, but instead our guys stepped up their efforts and continued to battle.

CSKA ran into penalty trouble and at the end of the frame we found ourselves with a five-on-three advantage. Rourke Chartier has proved himself as a bit of an expert in this phase of play and once again he converted the double power play. This time he was perfectly placed at the back door to deflect Campbell’s diagonal feed and make it a productive return for Soupy.

In the second period, and early in the third, things went astray. Konstantin Okulov scored twice as our visitor opened a 3-1 lead. For many teams, that would be too much. But our Dragons never give up and battled against adversity to find a way back into the game.

Clendening halved the deficit with nine to play. Our defenseman, currently wearing the ‘C’ in the absence of Brandon Yip and Spencer Foo, got himself up to the slot and was well placed to put away the rebound following some great work by Tyler Graovac.

Then came the tying goal in the 57^th minute. Ian McCoshen hammered in a shot from the blue line. The initial effort went wide, but Jayden Halbgewachs got to the rebound and forced it home from a dead angle. 3-3, and the game was there for the taking.

Neither team could win it in regulation, but overtime brought us a couple of chances to complete the job. However, CSKA survived those scares and turned the play around to win it with their first shot on goal in the extras.