MAGNITOGORSK, Russia (Interstat) — Metallurg Magnitogorsk overcame an early two-goal deficit with a dominant third-period surge to defeat Salavat Yulaev Ufa 6-4 in a Kontinental Hockey League match on Thursday at Arena Metallurg.

The victory extended Metallurg’s strong start to the season, improving their record across all competitions to 12 wins and 4 losses. The loss deepened the struggles for Salavat Yulaev, who fell to 3 wins and 11 losses on the season.

The game’s narrative was one of two halves, with Salavat Yulaev seizing control early before Metallurg’s relentless pressure and offensive depth ultimately prevailed.

Salavat Yulaev stunned the home crowd by building a two-goal lead in the second period. Jack Rodewald opened the scoring, netting his third goal of the season at the 22:41 mark with an assist from Maxim N. Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov then turned scorer just over two minutes later, beating the Metallurg goaltender at 24:59 to double the visitors’ lead to 2-0.

Metallurg responded quickly to cut the lead in half. Andrei E. Kozlov scored his third of the season at 27:40, assisted by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alexander S. Smolin. The home side continued to push and finally drew even with a goal from defenseman Valery Orekhov at 32:11. Orekhov’s second goal of the campaign was set up by Ruslan Iskhakov and Derek Barach.

Just before the second intermission, Metallurg completed the comeback to take their first lead of the night. Defenseman Yegor Yakovlev scored his third of the season with just 4 seconds remaining in the period, assisted by Orekhov and Dmitry Silantyev, sending the teams to the locker rooms with Metallurg ahead 3-2.

The third period belonged entirely to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. They extended their lead just past the midway point when Yegor Korobkin scored his third goal at 52:23, with helpers from Nikita A. Korotkov and Makar Khabarov.

Less than a minute later, the lead grew to three goals as Dmitry Silantyev potted his eighth of the season at 53:12. The goal, which proved to be the game-winner, was assisted by defensemen Alexei Maklyukov and Artyom Minulin.

Salavat Yulaev showed a brief flicker of life, with Vladislav Yefremov scoring his third of the season at 54:54 to make it 5-3. Alexander Zharovsky, who was prominent in the penalty summary, recorded the assist.

Any hope of a Salavat Yulaev rally was extinguished when Metallurg’s Ruslan Iskhakov scored his fourth goal at 56:34, restoring the three-goal cushion. Alexander Zharovsky added a late power-play goal for Salavat Yulaev with 2:17 remaining, his second of the season, but it served as mere consolation as Metallurg closed out the 6-4 victory.

The game was heavily influenced by special teams and discipline, particularly in a penalty-filled first period that saw no goals but set a physical tone. Salavat Yulaev’s Alexander Zharovsky took two minor penalties in the opening frame, while Metallurg’s Evgeny Kuznetsov also spent four minutes in the box.

The result avenged Metallurg’s season-opening overtime loss to Salavat Yulaev on Sept. 8 and aligned closely with pre-game projections from Interstat, whose game simulator had predicted a 6-1 Metallurg win and whose ELO system gave the home team a 65.50 percent probability of victory.

Salavat Yulaev will look to end its skid on the road against Traktor Chelyabinsk on Saturday. Metallurg Magnitogorsk continues its homestand Sunday against Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk.