A pair of quick-fire goals early in the third set Atlant Moscow Region on the way to a 5-2 win at Spartak Moscow, with Nikolai Zherdev taking the individual honors. Zherdev scored two – cancelling out Andrei Shefer’s opener and getting Atlant’s fourth, and also claimed an assist as Igor Ignatushkin put his team ahead for the first time on 37:21.
Loko recovers to beat Donbass
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl came from behind to beat Donbass Donetsk 2-1. The winning goal came in the 51st minute from Alexander Chernikov, who managed to swivel as he was falling and swept the puck into the net. Earlier Niklas Hagman had tied the game for Loko after Petteri Wirtanen had given Donbass a second-period lead.
Torpedo’s dramatic win
There was no shortage of excitement in Nizhny Novgorod as Torpedo beat Dinamo Riga 3-2. As well as five goals, both sides missed a penalty shot in the first period while the scores were tied at 1-1. Ultimately it was the home side which prevailed, with Ruslan Zainullin grabbing the winner on 48:51, just 18 seconds after he was released from the sin-bin following Kaspars Daugavins first goal for Dinamo after he returned to Latvia during the lock-out.
