A late equalizer from Traktor’s Stanislav Chistov cost Spartak a valuable victory – with Anton Glinkin’s shoot-out winner making it five defeats in a row for the Moscow side.
Spartak made a dream start, opening the scoring after just 65 seconds through Mikhail Yunkov’s short-handed goal. And it seemed like plain sailing as Oleg Gubin scored twice in the third period to help open up a 4-1 lead with barely 10 minutes to play.
But Traktor rallied strongly, and Chistov grabbed a dramatic leveler on 59:28 to see Traktor to a two-point cushion at the top of the Eastern Conference.
Sibir too strong for Ak Bars
Two goals in the third period gave Sibir a 3-1 home win over Ak Bars, enhancing the Siberian side’s position among the Eastern Conference leaders.
Anton Malyshev, got his second goal in three games to put Sibir 2-1 up in the 45th minute, and Maxim Krivonozhkin added to his first-period assist to put the result beyond doubt on 55:28.
Around the league
Metallurg Novokuznetsk picked up a 4-3 win over Salavat Yulaev thanks to Randy Robitaille’s 54th-minute goal. It was Metallurg’s second high-scoring win in successive games, and sees the team leapfrog Salavat Yulaev into the play-off places.
It was a family affair for Neftekhimik Nizhenkamsk in a 2-1 win at Amur Khabarovsk. Yaroslav Alshevsky got the winner – his first KHL goal – with an assist from brother Stanislav.