Nikonov avoids brawl as Dynamo down Dynamo Minsk

Kovgorenya tried to draw Andrei Nikonov into a fight midway through the second period. Nikonov refused to drop his gloves. Kovgorenya was penalised six minutes for roughing and a cross-check, Nikonov two minutes for roughing. Moscow finished the man advantage.

"Andrei Nikonov likes a fight, but in the match against Dynamo Minsk decided to steer clear of one. Was it a clever move?" — "The side stayed on the power play in the end. Andrei played for the team and did everything right. Kovgorenya, it seems, wanted a fight very badly, since he even went after the officials. He probably shouldn't be playing this sport at all." — "Is there no sense that Nikonov will be hunted in every meeting with Dynamo Minsk from now on?" — "We'll see. We've got plenty of other games ahead. We'll prepare for those," said Shen.

Kovgorenya gave his own account of the incident. "There was no fight, it turned into a small scuffle. Emotions ran a bit high. We remember, of course, that situation with Melosh. Once again, I wish our player good health. Nikonov isn't behaving like a man — if you want to fight, drop your gloves and fight. I won't call him overly dirty. He's a young player trying to get under the skin and do everything he can to hold down a spot in the starting line-up," said Kovgorenya.

"We didn't let that genie out of the bottle. We saw their line-up of enforcers — a different trio was meant to start the match, but we had to change it. We had to put out players who know how to fight. They didn't, but then Kovgorenya, on his second shift, decided to show what he'd been dressed for." Asked to praise Nikonov, once a hot-headed player, for holding his composure and not responding to Kovgorenya, Tambiev said: "Because we asked Nikonov not to respond. Does he not know how to fight? Of course he does. Does the other coach think he only knows how to wrestle? Andrei can fight perfectly well. I know that, and we asked him not to fight, and he held himself back for the team, even though everything inside him was boiling. Well done, Nikonov," said Tambiev.