MOSCOW, November 15 (R-Sport) – SKA St. Petersburg beat Dynamo Minsk 4-1 on the road in the KHL to maintain the pressure on Dynamo Moscow at the top of the Western Conference.
Former Edmonton Oilers forward Patrick Thoresen opened the scoring in the 12th minute and Maxim Rybin netted his first goal of the season for SKA three minutes later.
Dynamo replied via Teemu Laine in the second period, but later goals by Victor Tikhonov, assisted by St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko, and Alexander Kucheryavenko sealed the victory for Milos Riha’s team.
SKA is third in the West, four points behind leader Dynamo Moscow, and the team from Belarus is outside the playoff zone in ninth.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, two-time Gagarin Cup winner Ak Bars Kazan traveled to Latvia to beat Dynamo Riga 3-0.
Finnish forwards Niko Kapanen and Janne Pesonen did the damage in the first period, while Danis Zaripov added an empty-net goal six seconds before the final horn.
Russia goaltender Konstantin Barulin stopped 28 shots to post his third shutout of the season.
Ak Bars is fourth in the East, four points behind leader Traktor Chelyabinsk and Dynamo Riga is rock-bottom 14th in the West.
Two other games Wednesday were decided on penalty shots as Salavat Yulaev Ufa edged Spartak Moscow 3-2 on the road and Donbass Donetsk beat Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3-2 at home.
