On Wednesday, Salavat Yulaev won a crucial away game against Metallurg and put the Magnitogosk side on the brink of elimination from the Gagarin Cup.
The hosts found themselves one goal down in the middle of the first period. Salavat’s Patrick Thoresen came up with an opener.
Tomas Rolinek responded with an equalizer some three minutes later, but almost immediately Salavat restored their lead courtesy of Miroslav Blatyak.
Magnitogorsk leveled matters again in the middle of the second period, but again Salavat didn’t give them much time to celebrate as Vyacheslav Kozlov made it 3-2 at the end of the period.
Despite Metallurg summoning up all their strength in the final period, they failed to beat Salavat a third time in the game, while the Ufa side managed to put the squeeze on the host with an empty net goal less than a minute before the end.
The series now move to Ufa, with Salavat Yulaev needing just a win to reach the Gagarin Cup final.