Evgeni Malkin made three assists Wednesday as his lockout team Metallurg Magnitogorsk completed a 5-2 home thrashing of Severstal Cherepovets on Wednesday.
Metallurg remains third in the East, while Malkin is now on 27 points in 17 games, only one point behind the league’s top scorer, Alexander Radulov of CSKA Moscow.
The teams exchanged first-period goals as Severstal forward Denis Kazionov brought his team level after Sergei Mozyakin opened the score on five minutes.
Metallurg then went 2-1 ahead when the other Kazionov brother, Metallurg forward Dmitry, struck at the start of the second period.
Malkin then set up three goals, two for Enver Lisin and once for Viktor Antipin, while Severstal grabbed a consolation through Alexei Medvedev’s strike.
Severstal is sixth in the West.
Elsewhere, Traktor Chelyabinsk kept hold of first place in the Eastern Conference after a 2-0 home win over Dynamo Minsk.
Maxim Yakutsenya scored late in the second period, picking-up a pass from Nashville Predators wing Andrei Kostitsyn, before ex-Montreal Canadiens forward Jan Bulis scored an empty-net goal late in proceedings.
Dynamo remains 11th position in the West.
Two goals from Alexander Perezhogin brought Avangard Omsk a 5-3 road victory over Barys Astana.
Avangard stays second place in the Eastern Conference, while Kazakh team Barys is ninth, two points adrift of the playoffs zone.
Former champion team Salavat Yulaev beat Atlant Moscow Region 5-3 thanks to two goals each Alexander Stepanov and Denis Parshin and rose to fifth place in the East.
Atlant's ninth consecutive defeat leaves the former Gagarin Cup finalist 12th in the West.
In the day's other game, coachless Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg suffered its seventh defeat in a row, losing to Vityaz Chekhov 5-4 on penalty shots.
Vityaz re-enters the playoff spots in the Western Conference in eighth, while Avtomobilist is last in the East and the KHL as a whole with just four wins from 22 games.
