Bless the good fortune

Donbas, without his best player Vitaly Lyalka suspended, secures the estimated points against Skautafelag Akureyri but the mission wasn’t easy for the unexpected resistance of Islanders that manages to tie with a beautiful shot from the angle by player-coach Jussi Sipponen, the opening goal scored by Ilya Smirnov after one minute. As in the game against Kurbads, SA Canadian goalie Adam Beukeboom is decisive in limiting the Ukranian forwards with a long list of saves.

For the general surprise SA takes 2-1 ahead at the begin of second period with Canadian Stuart-Dant. The reaction of Donbas is angry, coach Supler changes the goalie, getting Dyachenko in for Kostenko and a siege to Beubeboom cage begins. The Icelanders bravely resist, perched in front of their goalie, survive a power play but suffered the second goal at 28:41 when Sevastian Karpenko slaloms in the defence, serving Andrei Deniskyn for an easy finishing.

The absence of a sniper as Lyalka sets in, Donbas need the class of talent Ilya Karanchuk to finally break the siege at 44:26. The ten minutes for boarding imposed to Canadian Stuart-Dant are a tough blow for SA, deprived of one of the best players. Two consecutive power play consumes the energies of SA, saved again and again by a monster performance by Beukeboom. When the game seems to be decided and all in the stands are waiting for the decisive goal, SA, incredibly use the last gasp of stamina to tie again with a precise shot by Kristjan Arnason.

The decisive moment of Beukeboom's injury

A minute after the goal, the turning point of the game: goalie Beukeboom gets injured and has to leave the ice: back-up Steingrimsson get into the cage having a nightmare minutes: Donbas scores two goals, with Karpenko at 55:38 and Kiryuchenkov at 55: 53 before Beukeboom is back in the cage. Ukranians score the last goal empty net with Vladislav Goncharov. With some luck Donbas manages to win a unpredictably complicate game and can bet all the chances in the decisive match against Kurbads. For SA a great game against a stronger opponent, a redemption after the bad debut in the competition.

MVP. Adam Beukeboom – Viktor Zakharov

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