Five minutes in, forward Sanya Nosonov tried to get the offense moving, firing a shot off the post. But Sverdlovsk counterattacked, slipping one by 18-year-old goaltender Yevgeny Utin in the seventh minute as Vitaly Pozdnyakov scored off a pass from Dmitry Stepchenkov.
Nasonov's next move would even the score, however, as he delivered an assist to Konstantin Savchenko (pictured right) in the 13th minute. Sverdlovsk kept up the pressure for the remainder of the first half, but to no avail. Despite their offensive difficulties, Irkutsk did manage to work corners into a pair of goals - Savchenko delivered passes to Maxim Blem and newcomer Yevgeny Yakovlev to put Irkutsk up 3-1 going into the locker room.
Ten minutes after the break, Nasonov set a play in motion that would result in the game-winner. From beyond the center ice line, he delivered a perfect aerial pass to Savchenko right in front of the opponents' net. After stickhandling past two defenders, he placed the ball right on Yakovlev's stick, who fired it in from beyond the circle.
Baikal's poor defensive play nearly proved its undoing. Before the game had reached the 60 minute mark, Sverdlovsk would cut Irkutsk's lead from three to one, as Yury Marinov and Alexei Shevchenko scored in quick succession, but Utin managed to hold off the offense and record the victory.
Baikal-Energia's next game will be Friday against SKA-Zabaikalets-Energia Chita.
In Neftyanik's 9-2 win against Zabaikalets, former Baikal-Energia player Sergei Yusupov scored a pair of goals, while Maxim Gavrilenko had a goal and two assists. Here are the rest of the Russian Cup scores:
Wednesday, August 22
SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk 5:3 Mayak Krasnoturnisk (Group II)
Kuzbass Kemerovo 18:2 SKA-Sverdlovsk Yekaterinburg (Group II)
Uralsky Trubnik Pervouralsk 13:1 Start Nizhny Novgorod (Group I)
Dynamo Moscow 15:1 Zorky-2 Krasnogorsk (Group I)
Thursday, August 23
SKA-Neftyanik Khabarovsk 9:2 SKA-Zabaikalets-Energia Chita (Group II)
Vodnik Arkhangelsk 5:2 Uralsky Trubnik Pervouralsk (Group I)
Volga Ulyanovsk 11:0 Zorky-2 Krasnogorsk (Group I)
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