NHL No. 1 draft pick Nail Yakupov scored the winning goal with ten seconds in regulation to go as his lockout team Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk edged Sibir Novosibirsk 5-4 on Tuesday.
Neftekhimik leapfrogged Barys Astana and now sits in sixth in the Eastern Conference, while Sibir is second, two points behind leader Traktor Chelyabinsk.
In a close-fought encounter in Siberia, Edmonton Oilers forward Yakupov had a quiet game until his game-winning shot, with teammates Yaroslav Alshevsky, Egor Milovzorov, Evgeny Blokhin and Nikolay Belov getting their names on the scoreboard.
Konstantin Glazachev scored the first and the fourth goals for the hosts, with Alexei Kopeikin and Viktor Dugov netting their efforts in between.
Yakupov, however, made all the difference with a last-gasp goal, which brought him his eighth KHL point in ten games.
Elsewhere, Amur Khabarovsk put an end to its three-game losing streak as the team from Russia’s Far East overpowered Salavat Yulaev Ufa on home ice 5-2.
The 23-year-old Alexander Osipov scored twice for Amur to become the league’s top-scoring defenseman with eight goals.
Both teams are outside the playoff zone in the East, with 2011 champion Salavat Yulaev ninth and Amur in 11th.
In Siberia, visiting team Ak Bars Kazan came from behind to beat Metallurg Novokuznetsk 2-1.
Brent Sopel opened the scoring for the hosts in the second minute and it took the two-time champion some 40 minutes to respond with two goals in as many minutes; former Pittsburgh Penguins wing Aleksey Morozov hitting the winner.
Ak Bars is third in the East and Novokuznetsk is just inside the playoff zone in eighth.
In other games Tuesday, Dynamo Riga hosts Traktor and CSKA Moscow travels to Slovakia to face Slovan Bratislava.
