MINSK (Interstat) — Vasily Demchenko stopped 20 of 21 shots, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored twice as Dinamo Minsk beat Sibir Novosibirsk 4-1 in a Kontinental Hockey League game Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, at Minsk-Arena in Minsk, Belarus. The home victory came before an announced attendance of 15,086. Dinamo Minsk improved to 1-4-0, while Sibir dropped to 1-5-0. Demchenko was named the top star for the home team after earning the win.

Dinamo Minsk took control with three consecutive goals before Sibir answered. The first goal came at 24:42 elapsed, after Sibir’s Semyon Koshelev was sent off for high sticking. Sergei Kalinin scored from Bogdan Belkin and Daniil Sotishvili. Daniil A. Lipsky made it 2-0 at 37:33, with Ilya Usov and Christopher Tierney assisting. Aube-Kubel scored at 38:51 from Tierney and Dmitry S. Kuzmin. Aube-Kubel struck again at 46:23 from Stanislav Galiyev and Ty Smith. Dinamo Minsk led 3-0 before Sibir answered.

Demchenko was supported by a balanced attack. Aube-Kubel finished with two goals, four shots, two penalty minutes and two hits. Tierney recorded two assists and one shot. Lipsky had one goal, four shots and one hit. Kalinin contributed one goal and three shots. Ty Smith had one assist, five shots and two penalty minutes. Vladimir Alistrov added five shots, while Joshua Brook had two shots and two hits. Belkin finished with one assist. Sibir’s Darren Dietz scored the lone goal for the visitors and finished with four shots and one hit.

The game included several penalties. Koshelev’s high-sticking minor came at 21:12. Evgeny Kuznetsov was called for roughing at 35:34. At 39:36, Ty Smith and Daniil Sotishvili were assessed roughing minors for Dinamo Minsk, while Yegor Alanov and Mikhail B. Abramov received roughing minors for Sibir. In the third period, Sibir’s Maxim Sushko received a boarding minor at 45:34, and Aube-Kubel was called for slashing at 52:18. Dinamo Minsk held its lead through the remainder of the period.

Sibir avoided the shutout when Dietz scored at 53:51 from Taylor Beck and Yegor Korshkov. The goal came after Dinamo Minsk had built a four-goal lead. Demchenko and the Dinamo Minsk defense held Sibir to one goal on 21 shots. Dinamo Minsk finished with four goals and controlled the key stretches of the game, improving its record to 1-4-0. Sibir fell to 1-5-0.

Sibir had entered the game after losses to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, Barys Astana and Ak Bars Kazan, with its only win coming against Amur Khabarovsk. Dinamo Minsk had lost to Lada Togliatti, Dynamo Moscow, Shanghai Dragons and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod before breaking through Friday. Sibir continues its schedule at HC Sochi on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. Dinamo Minsk returns home to face Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026.

Sibir has lost five of six games to open the season and has scored two goals or fewer in five of those contests. Dinamo Minsk, meanwhile, had been close in several early-season defeats, including overtime and shootout losses to Shanghai Dragons, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and Dynamo Moscow. Friday’s result came before a busy stretch for Dinamo Minsk that includes games against Avtomobilist, Dynamo Moscow, Shanghai Dragons, Lada Togliatti, CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. Sibir’s upcoming slate features road games at HC Sochi, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Salavat Yulaev Ufa, Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, Traktor Chelyabinsk and Barys Astana, along with home dates against Ak Bars Kazan, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and Salavat Yulaev Ufa.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Dinamo Minsk 3, Sibir 1. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Dinamo Minsk with a 71.2 percent probability to win. The actual result delivered a wider margin for the home team.