Other events in Baltic States

Riga "Dinamo" opened its sixth Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) season by defeating last season's finalist Kazan "Ak Bars" 3:1 (0:0, 1:1, 2:0) in a match in Riga last night, reports LETA.

Kaspars Saulietis scored "Dinamo's" first goal of the season, and the other two goals were scored by Miks Indrasis and Gunars Skvorcovs. Alexander Svitov scored the only goal for "Ak Bars".

"Dinamo" goalie Joacim Eriksson was named the best player of the match.

"Dinamo" last played "Ak Bars" at the recent Latvijas Dzelzcels Cup in Riga, losing 2:3. "Ak Bars" went on to win the tournament.

As reported, "Dinamo" will play its second regular season match also at home on Thursday against Cherepovets "Severstal".

A total of 28 clubs are competing in the KHL this season. The top eight teams from both the Eastern and Western conferences will qualify for the league playoffs. Each club will play 60 regular season matches.

Last season, "Dinamo" failed to advance to the KHL playoffs.