MOSCOW (Interstat) — CSKA Moscow capitalized on a dominant third period to secure a 4-2 victory over SKA Saint Petersburg in Game 1 of their Kontinental Hockey League playoff series on Wednesday night.

A crowd of 9,635 at CSKA Ice Palace saw the home side erase a one-goal deficit with two third-period scores, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

SKA stunned the hosts just 1:43 into the game. With CSKA’s Nikita Nesterov serving an interference penalty called 15 seconds after the opening faceoff, Joseph Blandisi converted on the power play for an early lead. CSKA answered late in the period when Pavel Karnaukhov beat SKA goaltender Artemy Pleshkov with just eight seconds remaining, tying the game at 1-1.

The second period was a tight-checking affair until Denis Guryanov gave CSKA its first lead at the 10:02 mark, finishing a setup from Nikolai Kovalenko. CSKA carried that 2-1 advantage into the final frame.

CSKA extended its lead early in the third period. Takhir Mingachyov scored at 2:16, pushing the lead to two goals. The momentum swung decisively in CSKA’s favor when SKA defenseman Andrei Pedan was called for tripping at 5:46. On the ensuing power play, Dmitry Buchelnikov scored just 25 seconds into the man advantage to make it 4-1.

SKA showed a late push, with Nikita Dishkovsky scoring at 18:14 of the third to cut the deficit to two goals, but could not muster further offense against CSKA netminder Dmitry Gamzin.

Gamzin stopped 22 of 24 shots for the win. Pleshkov made 22 saves on 26 shots in the loss.

The game featured a combined 10 penalties, with both teams going 1-for-4 on the power play. The result aligned with the pregame projection from Interstat, whose simulator predicted a 4-2 CSKA victory and gave the club a 56.2% probability to win.

CSKA, which improved its season record to 38-30-1, has now won three consecutive meetings against its rival, including a 3-2 regulation win just two days prior to open the postseason. SKA’s record fell to 30-29-2.

The series shifts to Saint Petersburg for Game 2 on Friday, March 27, where SKA will look to even the series before Game 3 on Sunday, March 29, also on home ice.