Likhachyov lights up on debut

1 December 2024

Kunlun Red Star 4 Dynamo Moscow 5 OT

Yaroslav Likhachyov wrote his name into Dragon lore on his first appearance since arriving on loan from Lokomotiv. With four seconds left in regulation, he picked the perfect moment for a debut goal, tying the game at 4-4 and deservedly completing a big fightback.

Likhachyov wasn’t the only man to get his first for the club. Jan Drozg also found the net for the first time, moving to 4 (1+3) points in five games since joining from Amur. And another newcomer, Joey Duszak, had a pair of assists to go to three points in two games for us.

It wasn’t quite enough to get us back to winning ways: Dynamo won it on Jordan Weal’s overtime marker. But it brings another point against highly-ranked opposition as we bounced back from Friday’s blip against Lada.

Our latest signing comes with something of a reputation. In 2023, he starred for an Amur team that battled its way to the playoffs and secured a nomination for KHL rookie of the year. Today he slotted straight into the fourth line alongside Tyler Graovac and Hudson Elynuik, having come to us after finding his opportunities limited at the league leader.

However, in the first period neither Likhachyov nor our more established forwards could do much with an impressive Dynamo performance. The Blue-and-Whites dominated, outshooting us 12-3 through 20 minutes and opening a 2-0 lead on goals from Maxim Dzhioshvili and Alexei Mikheyev.

Things could only get better, and they did in a battling second-period performance. It started with Ian McCoshen scoring for the second time in two games. Cosh joined the rush to thump home a shot from the center of the zone in the 22nd minute, bringing the game back to life off a Drozg assist.

There was still adversity to come: Dynamo regained its two-goal advantage, then got on the power play. But the Dragons dug deep and created a couple of power play chances, then got one back on the power play when Luke Lockhart’s shot from an acute angle deflected into the net off goalie Maxim Motorygin. And the teams traded two more goals before the second pause. Max Comtois was on target for Dynamo before Drozg celebrated his first goal since entering the Dragons’ Lair. It took a couple of attempts to get the shot past Motorygin, but it sent us into the final frame with just one goal to make up. 

Back in touching distance, our guys stepped it up in the third. We outshot Dynamo 17-7 and Motorygin had to make big saves late on to deny Rourke Chartier and Graovac.  However, it looked like time was running out until Likhachyov’s dramatic intervention brought us a richly deserved tie. Playing with an empty net, our guys put in the hard work behind the net to keep Dynamo penned into their zone before forcing that tying goal. Unfortunately, we went into overtime running on empty and Dynamo rediscovered its first period form to grab a winner when Weal scored off a Gusev assist.