CSKA Moscow beat Lev Prague 3-2 on the road Thursday as lockout signing Mikhail Grabovski hit his fourth goal since joining the Russian team last month.
CSKA is now fourth in the KHL’s Western Conference, five points behind leader Dynamo Moscow, and on a three-game winning streak.
After a goalless first period, Alexei Marchenko broke the deadlock for the visitors five minutes into the second period.
CSKA’s second goal came when Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk fed Grabovski at the hash marks and the Toronto Maple Leafs forward had little trouble beating goaltender Tomas Popperle in a one-on-one situation.
In the third period, Tomas Surovy pulled one back for Lev, with Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara providing an assist, but CSKA’s Igor Radulov made the score 3-1 shortly after.
Two minutes from the final horn, Surovy struck again before Lev’s ex-NHL defenseman Martin Skoula fouled Grabovski on a breakaway, but Popperle parried Grabovski’s penalty shot.
Lev’s defeat was the Czech team’s seventh in a row, and it is now outside the playoffs zone in ninth.
Elsewhere, expansion team Donbass Donetsk beat Eastern Conference leader Traktor Chelyabinsk 3-2 on penalty shots at home.
Former NHL defenseman Clay Wilson scored twice for the hosts, while Evgeny Kuznetsov and former Nashville Predators forward Andrei Kostitsyn leveled the score twice for Traktor.
Fredrik Pettersson scored the deciding penalty shot for Donbass.
Despite the defeat, Traktor still leads in the East, while Donbass is seventh in the West on a three-game winning streak.
