In the evening Mayor’s Cup matchup, CSKA and Dinamo Minsk battled for a spot in the tournament final. But wins and losses don't matter in the preseason, so the coaching staff made a few roster changes to test out as many players as possible before the regular season starts. Team captain Pavel Karnaukhov, Maxim Mamin, and Denis Guryanov were left out of the squad, replaced by a trio of young forwards: Yaroslav Yapparov, Oleg Maistrenko, and Alexey Churkin. Nineteen-year-old defenseman Ivan Yukin filled for Ivan Patrikhaev, and Alexander Samonov kept goal. The first period was largely uneventful. The tempo picked up right after Dinamo scored. Our opponent scored on a rebound from the slot. After that, both teams picked up the pace and physical play, making the game much more exciting to watch. The Army men created scoring chances on the power play but then they had to play 4-on-5. After a solid defensive stand, our team turned up the heat. They locked Dinamo in their own zone for a long shift late in the period, but couldn't cash in. The third period also remained scoreless, despite having looks. The puck just wouldn't go in, and in the end, we gave up when pulling the goalie
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In the evening Mayor’s Cup matchup, CSKA and Dinamo Minsk battled for a spot in the tournament final. But wins and losses don't matter in the preseason, so the coaching staff made a few roster changes to test out as many players as possible before the regular season starts. Team captain Pavel Karnaukhov, Maxim Mamin, and Denis Guryanov were left out of the squad, replaced by a trio of young forwards: Yaroslav Yapparov, Oleg Maistrenko, and Alexey Churkin. Nineteen-year-old defenseman Ivan Yukin filled for Ivan Patrikhaev, and Alexander Samonov kept goal. The first period was largely uneventful. The tempo picked up right after Dinamo scored. Our opponent scored on a rebound from the slot. After that, both teams picked up the pace and physical play, making the game much more exciting to watch. The Army men created scoring chances on the power play but then they had to play 4-on-5. After a solid defensive stand, our team turned up the heat. They locked Dinamo in their own zone for a long shift late in the period, but couldn't cash in. The third period also remained scoreless, despite having looks. The puck just wouldn't go in, and in the end, we gave up when pulling the goalie

CSKA head coach Igor Nikitin summed up the game against the Dinamo.

– Defense is key. But we lacked offense today. We don’t just react to situations; we work systematically on all components, including the power play and penalty kill. You can't play all sixty minutes in one shift. But we keep putting the work in.

We'll find out over the course of the season if this CSKA roster is any better over last year's group. It’s crucial that players don’t just understand the system, but truly buy into it, that this hockey gives them a chance to reach their potential and achieve something.

We have healthy competition in net. We don't want to hand anyone the number one spot; we want them to earn it through competition.