Varlamov denies Severstal

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl shut out Severstal for the second time this season, winning 2-0 in front of another sell-out home crowd. Sergei Plotnikov opened the scoring in the second period, and Alexander Chernikov doubled the lead in the third. Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves for his fourth shut-out in 11 games this season.

Thriller in Nizhnekamsk
Oskar Osala settled a pulsating game in Nizhnekamsk, scoring in overtime to give Neftekhimik a 6-5 win over Atlant. The visitors opened up a 2-0 first period lead – raising hopes of ending a six-game losing streak which has already cost Janne Nilsson his job as head coach – but not even a 1+3 performance from Nikolai Zherdev could save Atlant from more woe.

For Neftekhimik, Nail Yakupov scored twice and Igor Polygalov got the final equalizer on 52:23 to force overtime and ultimately set Vladimir Golubovich’s men on the way to a third successive win.

Randy rocks Slovan
Randy Robitaille scored twice to give Metalurg Novokuznetsk a 4-2 win at Slovan Bratislava. The home side had enjoyed the bulk of the play in the first period, going ahead through Mario Bliznak, but Dmitry Chernykh tied it up after the interval before Robitaille got to work. Although Slovan heavily outshot the visitors, there was no way back for the Slovak side and an empty netter from Nikita Vyglazov sealed Metalurg’s win.