A late blitz helped Traktor Chelyabinsk beat Torpedo Nizhniy Novgorod 6-3 on home ice Wednesday to extend its lead in the KHL's Eastern Conference to three points.
Last regular season’s champion Traktor trailed 2-0 by the end of the first period via two goals by Sweden winger Martin Thornberg, but then rallied to hit six in the final half-hour.
Maxim Yakutsenya scored twice for the hosts and former Nashville Predators forward Andrei Kostitsyn provided two assists.
It was Torpedo's its second consecutive defeat after a four-game winning streak, leaving the team fifth in the West.
Sibir Novosibirsk, which beat Western leader Dynamo Moscow 3-2 on Tuesday, is right behind Traktor in second in the East but with one more game played.
Elsewhere, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl snatched a victory in the last second of overtime as the reformed team beat Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 4-3 on the road.
Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov scored the winning goal with 64:59 on the clock after he began the team’s comeback in the first period, pulling one back after going 2-0 down.
Lokomotiv is second in the West, two points behind Dynamo, and Avtomobilist is on bottom 12th in the East.
Further east, Metallurg Magnitogorsk overpowered Atlant Moscow Region 3-1 on home ice, with former Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers right wing Enver Lisin scoring twice.
Pittsburg Penguins star Evgeni Malkin added an empty-net goal for the hosts after assisting Lisin for the first goal.
Malkin has racked up 13 points since joining Metallurg on a lockout contract last month, scoring four times.
Metallurg is third in the East while Atlant is just inside the playoff zone in the West on eight, and on a four-game losing streak.
In other games Wednesday, Avangard Omsk overcame visiting Spartak Moscow 5-3; Salavat Yulaev Ufa beat Lev Prague 4-2 at home; Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk rallied to a 4-3 victory over visitors Dynamo Riga; and Barys Astana routed Donbass Donetsk 6-1 in Kazakhstan.
