Ak Bars Slays Atlant To Lead The East

Ak Bars Kazan edged out Atlant Moscow Region 3-2 on the road Sunday and clinched first place in the KHL’s Eastern Conference.

Nikolay Zherdev, who has played for three NHL franchises, opened the scoring for Atlant in the first period, but the visitors hit the target three times in the second period via Danis Zaripov, Ilya Nikulin and Jarkko Immonen.

Atlant forward Andreas Engqvist pulled one back in the third period, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the defeat.

Elsewhere, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl beat Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk 3-1 at home, with Columbus Blue Jackets center Artem Anisimov scoring a shorthanded goal to put the hosts 1-0 ahead in the first period. Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Staffan Kronwall netted his effort in the third period to double the lead, but Finnish forward Oskar Osala made the score 2-1 at 47:28.

Sergei Plotnikov sealed the victory for Lokomotiv on an Anisimov assist in the 56th minute.

The NHL’s No. 1 draft pick Nail Yakupov was unable to score a goal in his seventh successive game for Neftekhimik.

Lokomotiv is second in the West and Neftekhimik is seventh in the East.

In another game Sunday, Salavat Yulaev Ufa recorded a 3-1 win at Torpedo Nizhniy Novgorod.