NHL star Evgeni Malkin's lockout team Metallurg Magnitogorsk thrashed Dynamo Minsk 7-2 at home in the KHL on Monday.
As a result, Metallurg leapfrogged Traktor Chelyabinsk to take the lead in the Eastern Conference while Dynamo Minsk is outside the playoff zone in the West in ninth.
Magnitogorsk wing Sergei Mozyakin scored in the first period before former Phoenix Coyotes wing Enver Lisin doubled the lead in the second, with Alexander Kulakov pulling one back for the visitors
shortly afterwards.
Dmitri Kazionov scored for Magnitogorsk on 36 minutes before Minsk goaltender Pekka Rinne, a lockout signing from the Nashville Predators, let in three more goals in the next nine minutes, with
Canadian center Justin Hodgman netting twice, once on an assist from Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar.
Pittsburgh Penguins star Malkin had a largely quiet game and spent half of the second period in the penalty box for arguing with the referees.
Winnipeg Jets forward Evander Kane hit the target for the first time for his lockout team Dynamo Minsk to make the score 6-2 before former New York Rangers wing Mats Zuccarello made it 7-2 to Metallurg in the dying seconds.
Elsewhere, visitor Vityaz Chekhov came back from three goals down to beat Traktor Chelyabinsk 4-3 on penalty shots.
Former Washington Capitals defenseman Brian Fahey began the comeback with ex-Ottawa Senators forward Joshua Hennessy and Evgeny Timkin also scoring. Timkin also scored the winning penalty shot.
Vityaz is seventh in the West, while Traktor is third in the East.
Also Monday, Salavat Yulaev Ufa put an end to Torpedo Nizhniy Novgorod’s three-game winning streak as the 2011 KHL champion achieved a 3-2 victory.
The win saw Salavat Yulaev climb up from ninth to sixth in the East, while Torpedo retained fifth place in the West.
In a turbulent first period, former Boston Bruins center Sergei Zinovjev, erstwhile Columbus Blue Jackets wing Nikita Filatov and Igor Mirnov all scored in the space of four minutes to put Salavat Yulaev 3-0 ahead.
Goals from Torpedo’s Mikko Kousa in the second period and Petr Schastlivy in the third couldn’t prevent the defeat.
Elsewhere, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, without a coach since Andrei Shayanov was fired Sunday, lost at home to Severstal Cherepovets 2-1.
Avtomobilist stays bottom of the KHL table with six consecutive defeats and Severstal is sixth in the West.
