Penalty trouble destroys Dragons

27 February 2025

CSKA Moscow 6 Kunlun Red Star 0

The Dragons suffered a third period to forget in Moscow. Two players ejected from the game saw a battling performance end in a 0-6 drubbing, bringing an abrupt halt to our recent winning streak.

After victory in Sochi last time out, there were few changes to the line-up. Jeremy Smith resumed as starting goalie in line with our familiar rotation between the piping, and Stepan Zvyagin was scratched from the 13^th forward role.

Tonight, the Dragons were not the only ones looking for a win to boost their playoff prospects. CSKA knew that two points from this game would guarantee post season action despite an inconsistent regular season. As a result, the home team made a strong start to the first period. The Muscovites outshot us 10-5 without finding a way past Smith. Indeed, there were few chances at either end as both teams defended solidly.

Early in the second period, Jaydon Halbgewachs was the first to seriously test Pavel Khomchenko in the CSKA net. His spin and shot from between the hash marks was padded away by the home goalie. And, in response, the home team took the lead with a goal from Prokhor Poltapov on a 23^rd-minute breakaway.

Almost immediately, Red Star got a power play chance – its first of the game – but could not make much impact on CSKA’s defense. And, back at equal strength, the action continued with the home team on top until midway through the second period.

However, as the frame came to an end, our offense began to show what it could do. Alexander Sharov set up Austin Wong for a shot that went narrowly wide. The play continued, and Hudson Elynuik dinged the crossbar. Then came another power play, and a much more convincing effort from our guys. There were several good shots, but the best chance of all came when Tyler Graovac seemed certain to bang home a feed to the back door. However, Khomchenko reacted brilliantly to keep his team ahead at the second intermission.

The third period almost began with a bang for Red Star. Yaroslav Likhachyov did everything right, beat Khomchenko, but saw his shot rebound off the piping. Reprieved, CSKA got a helping hand from the officials a couple of minutes later. Jan Drozg’s high stick went to a video review and he was ultimately assessed a 5+20 major penalty and ejected from the game.

CSKA took advantage, doubling its lead on that power play and creating chances to put the game out of reach. We dug in to keep the deficit down to two goals, but had just 10 minutes to recover that gap after returning to full strength. However, before we really had a chance to resume the battle, Kirill Dolzhenkov notched a third for the home team. That put the game out of reach, but it proved to be the start of a nightmare end to the game. CSKA added a fourth, then Joey Duszak followed Drozg to the locker room after he, too, was assessed a 5+20 in the closing stages. CSKA took advantage with two power play goals to give the final score a lopsided look that was barely in keeping with the first 40 minutes of play.