Sunday’s sole KHL game brought together two struggling teams – but Metallurg Novokuznetsk took the opportunity to snap its four-game losing streak with a 6-3 win that piles further misery on to Dinamo Riga.

Metallurg had the better of the first period, but despite 19 shots on goal it wasn’t until the 19th minute that Ansel Galimov (pictured) got the opener.

Andris Dzerins tied it up early in the second and Dinamo looked to be more competitive, but a blast of three goals in seven minutes took the game decisively away from the visitor. Galimov got his second of the game, sandwiched by markers from Konstantin Turukin and James O’Brien.

That prompted Dinamo to change goalies, but Jakub Sedlacek had no more luck than Edgars Masalskis, conceding two in four minutes at the start of the third. By the time Miks Indrasis pulled two goals back it was already too late for the Latvians to recover the game.

For Dinamo, a five successive loss leaves the Latvians rooted to the foot of the Western Conference; for Metallurg this victory means a share of 8th place in the East, level on points with Ugra and Traktor.