MYTISHCHI, Russia (Interstat) — Pavel Khomchenko made 25 saves and the Shanghai Dragons held off visiting Dinamo Minsk 2-1 on Saturday in a Kontinental Hockey League game at Municipal‘nyj Stadion Stroitel‘. The home victory improved the Dragons to 4-2-0, while Dinamo Minsk dropped to 2-6-0. Attendance was 7,035. Khomchenko, a 6-foot-1, 183-pound goaltender, was the game’s top star after stopping 25 of 26 shots. Shanghai scored once in the first period and once in the second, then protected the lead through a tense third period.

Dmitrij Jaskin opened the scoring at 9:24 of the first period, with assists from Vladislav Y. Barulin and Nikolas Petan. Jaskin, a 6-foot-1, 196-pound forward, finished with one goal, two shots on goal, two penalty minutes and six hits. Barulin added one assist, three shots and two hits, while Petan had one assist and one shot. Dinamo Minsk’s Ty Smith was called for interference at 2:31, giving Shanghai an early power-play chance. The Dragons led 1-0 after the first period.

Shanghai doubled its lead at 23:55 of the second period when Yegor S. Solovyov scored from Brennan Menell and Riley Sutter. Solovyov recorded one goal, two shots and two hits. Menell had one assist and one shot, while Sutter contributed one assist, one shot and one hit. The period became chippy with four penalties. Jaskin was sent off for tripping at 24:40, Dinamo Minsk’s Xavier Ouellet received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at 26:28, Shanghai’s Nick Cicek was called for holding at 29:55, and Shanghai’s Nikita I. Alexandrov was penalized for too many players on the ice at 32:36. Khomchenko made several key saves to keep Dinamo Minsk off the board, and the Dragons carried a 2-0 lead into the third period.

Dinamo Minsk pushed late and broke through at 59:48 of the third period. Daniil Sotishvili scored from Ty Smith and Ilya Usov to cut the deficit to 2-1. Sotishvili, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound forward, had one goal, one shot and two hits. Usov added one assist, two shots and two hits. The goal came after a series of penalties. Dinamo Minsk’s Jake Bischoff was called for holding at 51:57, Ouellet was penalized for tripping at 53:20, and Shanghai’s Khomchenko was sent off for displacing the goal frame at 56:45. Dinamo Minsk could not find an equalizer in the final seconds, and Shanghai held on for the one-goal win.

Khomchenko’s performance stood out. He stopped 25 of 26 shots and earned the win. Earlier in the season, he made 35 saves in a 3-2 victory over Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg and appeared briefly against SKA Saint Petersburg. Shanghai also received production from Petan, Sutter, Barulin and Menell, each of whom recorded one assist. Barulin finished with three shots and two hits, while Menell had one shot. Christopher Tierney registered one shot for Dinamo Minsk. Jaskin’s six hits were a game high, and his two penalty minutes came on the second-period tripping call.

The Dragons have won four of six to open the season. Dinamo Minsk has lost six of eight, including a 4-3 overtime defeat at Dynamo Moscow in its previous game. Shanghai defeated Dinamo Minsk 4-3 in overtime in their earlier meeting this season. The teams will meet again in Shanghai next month. Dinamo Minsk is scheduled to host Lada Togliatti in its next game, while Shanghai will host HC Sochi. Dinamo Minsk will also face CSKA Moscow and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl during its upcoming homestand.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Dinamo Minsk 3, Shanghai 2, and its ELO system gave Dinamo Minsk a 71.8 percent probability to win. The actual result went against both projections as Shanghai protected its home ice.