Martin Thornberg gave Torpedo Nizhny Novogorod 3-2 win over last year's championship runner-up Atlant, scoring on 58:40 to clinch the points. Earlier Atlant had taken the lead with a short-handed goal from Alexei Glukhov on 4:56, but the hosts hit back to lead 2-1 through Matt Ellison and Vladimir Gorbunov before Branko Radivojevic equalized on 43:48.
SKA bounce back
After dropping points in the last two games, SKA St. Petersburg returned to winning form at struggling Vityaz Chekhov. But the star-studded side was stunned by an early goal for the hosts from Vadim Berdnikov before finally getting into gear. Mattias Weinhandl leveled it up then Igor Makarov made it 2-1 on 33:23. The game remained tight until the closing minutes, when a quick-fire pair from Patrick Thoresen and Gleb Klimenko made it 4-1.
On top in Tatarstan
Ak Bars Kazan won the Tatar tussle at home to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 5-2, with a powerful second period display led by Nikolai Lemtyugov. He scored twice as the hosts hit four unanswered goals to build on Niko Kapanen's sixth-minute opener. Kirill Petrov and Antti Mietinen were also on target, while Nikita Shchitov and Alexander Korolyuk got late consolations for Neftekhimik.
Fightback falls short
There was a nerve-jangling finale in Cherepovets before hosts Severstal sank Dinamo Riga 4-2. Mikko Lehtonen and Evgeny Ketov had put Severstal 3-1 up, with Janis Sprukts getting Riga's goal. But Roberts Bukarts made it 3-2 on 57:53, and as the Latvians poured forward in the hope of forcing overtime Vadim Shipachyov took advantage with an empty net goal five seconds before the siren.
