Slavutych Falls to Neman in Grodno

Game Recap

Slavutych Mogilev fell 3:1 to Neman Grodno in the opening match of their Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) series on Tuesday night in Grodno, Belarus.

Neman opened the scoring just 2:25 into the game when Vladislav Kolyachonok fired a shot past Slavutych goaltender Konstantin Shostak. The assist went to Artem Demkov.

Missed Opportunities

Slavutych had a chance to tie the game on a power play in the second period, but they were unable to convert. Neman took advantage of the opportunity and scored a short-handed goal to make it 2-0. The goal was scored by Ilya Usov, assisted by Vladislav Kolyachonok.

Slavutych finally got on the board with a power-play goal of their own late in the third period. The goal was scored by Nikita Pyshkin, assisted by Artyom Volkov and Viktor Antipin.

However, Neman sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with just over a minute remaining in the game. The goal was scored by Vladislav Kolyachonok, his second of the night.

Looking Ahead

The two teams will face off again in Grodno on Thursday night in Game 2 of the series. Slavutych will need to win in order to tie the series and force a Game 3 back in Mogilev.

Post-Game Quotes

"We didn't play our best game tonight," said Slavutych coach Dmitry Kvartalnov. "We made too many mistakes and we didn't take advantage of our chances. We need to be better in Game 2."

"We're happy with the win," said Neman coach Andrei Nazarov. "We played a solid game and we took advantage of our opportunities. We're looking forward to Game 2."