Evgeny Kovyrshin leads HC Dinamo Minsk past Canada 7-4 at Spengler Cup

DAVOS, Switzerland — Evgeny Kovyrshin scored twice, including the winner near the midway point of the third period, as HC Dinamo Minsk beat Canada 7-4 on Monday as both teams opened up the Spengler Cup.

Dmitry Korobov, Sergei Drozd and Nikita Komarov also scored in the third as Minsk reeled off four unanswered goals. Alexander Materukhin and Evgeny Lisovets had goals in the first period for the Kontinental Hockey League team.

Andrew Ebbett, Maxim Noreau and Mason Raymond gave Canada a 3-1 lead by the 13:58 mark of the first period, but the defending Spengler Cup champions couldn’t hold on. Noreau scored again early in the third to give the Canadians a short-lived 4-3 lead.

“Our guys played well, out-chanced and we had our opportunities to extend our lead, but didn’t take advantage,” said Canada coach Luke Richardson. 

“A couple of defensive-zone mistakes and penalties resulted in opposition goals. We’ll continue to get better every game.”

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Noreau put the puck on his backhand and slid it past Minsk goalie Ben Scrivens, who bit hard on a deke, to make it 4-3 just 33 seconds into the third period.

Korobov tied it 4-4 minutes later. He drove to the net on a give-and-go with Komarov, deflecting the pass past Canada’s Drew McIntyre.

An unlucky bounce for Canada gave Minsk a 5-4 lead as the puck bounced off the skate of defenceman Mark Flood and settled in the Canadian crease before Kovyrshin knocked it into the net.

Drozd put away a rebound on McIntyre’s doorstep, giving Minsk a 6-4 lead. Komarov than added some extra insurance with an empty-net goal with 1:35 left to play.

The Canadian Press