The Army Men rolled out a slightly modified lineup for their matchup against Torpedo compared to their season opener. Defenseman Ivan Patrikhaev, replacing Robert Hamilton, and forward Klim Kostin took to the ice. Dmitry Gamzin got another start in net.
Our team faced a challenging first period. The Army Men pushed hard and kept the pressure on, but the opponents held their ground and launched dangerous counterattacks. Gamzin came to the rescue for his team multiple times, making a particularly spectacular save at the very end of the period when a Torpedo player shot from close range. By this time, CSKA had already opened the scoring. Dmitry Buchelnikov pounced on the rebound and buried a backhander. Nikolai Kovalenko did a great job screening the goaltender in the crease. The game was a toss-up for a long time. Both teams deserved to win, but CSKA made better use of their chances. The game-changing moment happened at 48:00. Torpedo goaltender’s penalty on Prokhor Poltapov leads to power-play goal. Nikolai Kovalenko fired a shot that Denis Guryanov tipped beautifully, before Guryanov quickly cleaned up his own rebound right in front of the net. In the final minutes, the visitors gained a power play and immediately pulled their goalie to play 6-on-4. Maxim Mamin broke up the play in the defensive zone, setting up Pavel Karnaukhov to fire the puck from his own end into the empty net, securing a 3-0 win.
