MOSCOW, January 26 (R-Sport) - Barys Astana climbed to fifth position in the KHL’s Eastern Conference Saturday after a 6-4 road win over Salavat Yulaev Ufa.
Both teams are on 73 points, but sixth-placed Salavat has six more regular season games to play, one more than Barys. The top eight teams in the conference qualify for the playoffs.
“Both teams continue to fight for the playoff spot,” Barys coach Vladimir Krikunov said. “That’s why the games are so intense: a lot of goals and mistakes. I’m satisfied with the result, it is very important for us because very difficult games are ahead of us.”
The first period ended level, as Barys scored twice through former Tampa Bay Lightning wing Brandon Bochenski in reply to goals from Salavat forwards Denis Khlystov and Igor Mirnov.
The hosts took a 4-3 lead after the second period before ex-Calgary Flames center Dustin Boyd extended the lead early in the third.
Salavat forward Anton Slepyshev made it a one-goal game on 54 minutes, but Roman Savchenko killed home fans' hopes with an empty-net goal.
