Cherepovets beat Lada 1:0 in the Kontinental Hockey League on Sunday. Both sides arrived having lost their opening games of the campaign. The home side took all three points while the visitors remain winless after two matches.
There was only one goal in the contest and it proved decisive. By then the match had settled into a rhythm where each team tried to impose its structure. The visitor defence held firm for long periods before the breakthrough came.
That single moment changed everything. Cherepovets clawed their way back from a losing start to the season. Lada now face a task of finding consistency after two defeats.
Both teams had shown vulnerability in their previous outings. Cherepovets lost 2:3 to Salavat Yulaev on Friday and 0:4 to Novosibirsk three days before that. Lada fell 3:4 to SKA in their most recent game.
The result puts the home side on the board for the first time. Lada must now regroup and respond. In these early stages the table goes out of the window in such games, but momentum matters.