Salavat Yulaev Claims Rational Revenge with Overtime Win Over Dinamo Minsk

Salavat Yulaev defeated Dinamo Minsk 2-1 in overtime on the road. The victory brings them within five points of fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Feb 17, 2026

Salavat Yulaev secured a narrow overtime victory against Dinamo Minsk in a tense KHL matchup.
Source:
Salavat Yulaev HC / VK.com

Salavat Yulaev defeated Dinamo Minsk 2-1 in overtime on the road.

For the second straight game, Salavat Yulaev faced aggressive pressure from their opponents from the start.
Source:
Azamat Shavlukov

The Yulaevtsy started the game on the back foot, reacting to the hosts« activity, but opened the scoring in a very tense second period. Although the Bisons equalized on a power play, later no one could seize the initiative for long. In overtime, the victory for the white-greens was brought by Vladislav Yefremov; the center forward scored in overtime for the first time in his Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) career.

Winning key defensive zone faceoffs helped Salavat Yulaev maintain a slight edge in puck possession statistics.
Source:
Azamat Shavlukov

UFA1.RU reports on the second consecutive win for the Bashkir club.

The third period featured a scoring drought with only two shots on goal in over 11 minutes of play.
Source:
Azamat Shavlukov

Started with two penalties in seven minutes (including for too many men), but coped while playing on the back foot

Game statistics reflected a closely contested match with both teams struggling to generate offense at times.
Source:
Dinamo Minsk HC / VK.com

0-0 after the first period in Sochi, 0-0 after the first period in Minsk — completely different starts. The southerners are a hopeless outsider, while the Belarusians are realistically contending for the Gagarin Cup for the first time in history. A huge contrast in table position, crowd noise, and quality of play.

Although Dmitry Kvartalnov«s team quickly overcame the neutral zone. There were passes to the blue line, but more often they rushed through the neutral territory. The Bisons aimed to quickly bring the play to a shot.

An episode from their power play seems indicative: they entered the attack zone, quickly sent a player to the slot, lifted the puck to the top, and shot with the intention of a rebound. Usually, teams do this after everyone takes their positions in the formation, but here it was on the move.

Dinamo actively presses, although it would be more accurate to say that in principle they strive to actively engage in battles all over the ice. The 2-2-1 formation allows them to both assist the pressing player in the offensive zone and stifle the puck carrier in the neutral zone or their own. This can lead to an icing or force a dump-in instead of entering with control.

But Salavat Yulaev was not bad while playing on the back foot. In discipline — yes, two penalties in the first seven minutes, but on the penalty kill they played reliably, confidently cleared the puck, and even went on the forecheck and once earned a faceoff. By the way, the centers should be praised for good work on the dot specifically in the defensive zone.

At the start of the second period, Alalykin… did not open the scoring. The goal was disallowed, citing goaltender interference

But after 4 minutes and 3 seconds, Suchkov finally scored

A won battle behind the net, a move to the blue line, a successful rebound after a shot from Grigory Panin — that«s how it was. It seems Vasily Demchenko did not see the rebound and therefore lost his position. By the way, thanks to the assist, Panin has already accumulated as many points (3+4) as in the entire last season (2+5).

Soon after the goal, the game was overwhelmed by emotions. A foul on Vyazov (without the injured Zarovsky, much less constructive), soon Vadim Shipachyov was taken out to zero, the disallowance of a Minsk goal due to much more obvious goaltender interference, a scuffle behind the net, Sheldon Rempal«s violation in attack, a nervous penalty kill, and still 1-1.

Minsk capitalized on Rempal«s penalty in the offensive zone

Stanislav Galiev cleverly passed to Daniil Lipsky, Andrei Stas drove in front of Semyon Vyazov, Lipsky shot accurately. Essentially, the only one who could play against Lipsky was Yegor Suchkov, but he went to challenge Galiev.

The coaching staff of the Ufa club requested a review for interference, since Stas voluntarily touched Vyazov«s pad, but it was decided that this did not interfere with the goaltender. Since the request did not lead to the goal being disallowed, it converted into a penalty.

KHL should conduct more consistent explanatory work with both the public and the clubs, because it seems that even coaches do not understand what is considered interference and what is not.

On the penalty kill, they coped — despite the earlier conceded goal, overall the special teams looked much better than in the home match against Minsk (2-3 OT, all conceded were on the penalty kill). Conceding only one goal against one of the strongest attacks in the championship — quite a success.

Emotions did not subside. Exactly four minutes before the end of the second period, Daniil Alalykin drew a penalty. In the 5-on-4 format, they showed good control, retrieval, and quick setup for a shot, but failed to score.

In the third period, the teams equalized in speed. There is an impression that Salavat Yulaev evenly distributed their strength, while Dinamo bet on a strong start and subsequently tired.

Ufa started to play more with the puck, the third period at times looked like a home game. Minsk could no longer return to defense so briskly. At the press conference, Viktor Kozlov praised his charges for making reasonable decisions.

Although the game opened up, it absolutely did not contribute to the emergence of dangerous moments. The matter logically reached overtime. The opponents for the fifth consecutive time failed to settle the score within regulation time.

Yefremov brought victory in overtime: stole from Enes, on a 2-on-1 break decided to shoot himself, the goaltender did not have time to close his pads. This is Vladislav«s first overtime goal in his KHL career

A victory over one of the KHL leaders in the absence of Yevgeny Kuznetsov, Alexander Zarovsky, Dean Stewart, Alexei Vasilevsky, and even Artyom Pimenov, even distribution of strength, patience and attentiveness in defense — a good foundation before the «green derby.»

Perhaps, they left a lot of energy in Belarus, but there will definitely be no shortage of emotions against Ak Bars. Since this is also the last match of the trip, there is no point in conserving energy.