Prior to the game the fans and players were greeted by Kontinental Hockey League vice-president of junior hockey development Alexander Guskov and USSR honorable master of sports – 6-time world champion Vasily Pervukhin.

Dmitry Menshatov got the nod to start in goal for JHC Dynamo Moscow while Loko Yaroslavl delegated Yegor Gorshkov, who played most of the playoff games last spring, between the pipes. Yegor Guskov began the game on the bench.

Defensemen Yegor Smirnov of the blue-and-white got to score the season’s opening goal. It began with a quick offensive rush by the hosts. Gorshkov stopped the initial shot but Smirnov corralled the puck at the blue line and went for another go. Due to traffic in front of the net Yaroslavl netminder didn’t see the moment when the shot was taken and the puck hit the top corner.

Yaroslavl got back even with a power play marker. Menshatov shoved the net off its moorings, forcing his team to deal with a 5-on-3 penalty kill. The visitors got their first goal of the net from a defenseman as well – Semyon Sigorin fired home a mighty clapper from long-range.

Second period of action began with Loko finding the back of the net again. Daniil Tesanov received a cross-ice pass from Ilya Nazarov and sniped it home. Dynamo’s response was immediate. ‘Railway men’ defense lost track of Anton Kosolapov, who was able to break loose and beat Groshkov with a perfectly-placed shot between the pad and the glove. Just over a minute later Andrei Nikonov beat Gorshkov from in tight and sent him to the bench – Yegor Guskov got his place between the pipes.

33 minutes in Daniil Gutik, who had made himself noticed with several creative passes and dangerous shots, managed to convert on a man-advantage. The forward skated down the length of the rink, created room for himself to take as shot and hit it top-shelf for a beauty.

Late in the second period Yaroslavl got a goal back and, notably, it came shorthanded. Alexander Perevalov set up Timur Akhunov for a shot on a quick transition play and all the forward had to do was hit the wide-open 4-by-6. As a result, it was a 4-3 hockey game after 40 minutes of play.

‘Railway men’ grabbed the momentum right as the play resumed in the third stanza and managed to finish off a long passing play late in regulation with a fourth goal past Menshatov. Semyon Sigorin got his second of the game. He puts the puck on net in hopes for a deflection but instead it didn’t hit anyone and flew past Dynamo goaltender to the game up 4-4.

Yaroslavl failed to convert on Ivan Didkovsky’s penalty in the extra period of action, while captain Yeremey Shumilin couldn’t score on a breakaway. The game had to be decided in the shootout and both netminders stood on their head. Dynamo forward Danil Paramonov was the only one on both teams who was able to convert on his attempt. Reigning Kharlamov Cup champions win the opening game of the season 5-4 in the shootout.

JHC Dynamo Moscow – Loko Yaroslavl 5 - 4 (1-1, 3-2, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)

1-0 – Yegor A. Smirnov (Daniil Gutik) – 09-32

1-1 – Semyon Sigorin (Nikita V. Kiriyanov, Daniil But) – 12-54 SHG

1-2 – Daniil Tesanov (Ilya A. Nazarov) – 21-14

2-2 – Anton Kosolapov (Alexander Kisakov) – 23-14

3-2 – Andrei Nikonov (Unassisted) – 24-53

4-2 – Daniil Gutik (Yegor A. Smirnov, Andrei Nikonov) – 32-52 PPG

4-3 – Timur Akhunov (Gennady Chalyi, Alexander Perevalov) – 39-15

4-4 – Semyon Sigorin (Pavel Tyutnev) – 55-52

5-4 – Danil Paramonov – 65-00 SOW

Goaltender: Dmitry Menshatov – Yegor Gorshkov, Yegor V. Guskov