Finnish wing Teemu Laine’s overtime strike was crucial Friday as Dynamo Minsk beat Barys Astana 2-1 at home in the KHL.
The match pitted the league’s only Belarusian team, Dynamo, against the sole side from Kazakhstan, and finished 1-1 in regular time, with Tim Stapleton’s first-period goal for Dynamo canceled out by Andrei Gavrilin’s second-period response for Barys.
Four minutes into overtime, ex-Florida Panthers defenseman Cory Murphy set up Laine and the Finn scored to give Dynamo, without a coach since Janne Karlsson was fired Sunday, its fourth win in its last five games.
Dynamo returned to the playoff places with the win, going eighth in the Western Conference, while Barys is sixth in the East and on a three-game losing streak.
Elsewhere, the bottom teams in both conferences faced off in Latvia as Dinamo Riga beat Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg 6-3.
Canadian forward Alexandre Giroux grabbed a goal and an assist for Dinamo as the Latvian team dominated the match, outshooting Avtomobilist 39-23.
The win snapped Dinamo’s five-game losing streak but did nothing to help the team off last place in the Western Conference.
Avtomobilist has now lost its last five games.
