KAZAN, Russia (Interstat) — Dmitry Katelevsky scored twice in the first period and Timur Bilyalov made 27 saves as Ak Bars Kazan defeated Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4-1 on Wednesday in Game 3 of their Kontinental Hockey League playoff series at TatNeft Arena.

The victory gave Ak Bars a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Attendance was 8,829.

Katelevsky opened the scoring at 15:04 of the first period, converting a pass from Nikita Dynyak and Alexei Pustozyorov. He struck again less than three minutes later, at 18:08, with assists from Pustozyorov and Mitchell Miller. The two quick goals put Ak Bars ahead 2-0 heading into the intermission.

Dmitrij Jaskin extended the lead to 3-0 at 27:09 of the second period, with Nikita Lyamkin and Kirill Semyonov picking up assists. Metallurg answered at 31:52 when defenseman Robin Press scored his fifth goal of the postseason, cutting the deficit to 3-1. But Ak Bars restored its three-goal advantage late in the third period when Kirill Semyonov scored an unassisted goal at 59:05, sealing the win.

The game featured only two penalties. Metallurg’s Nikita A. Korotkov was called for tripping at 25:20 of the second period, and Ak Bars’ Grigory Denisenko received a holding penalty at 32:22 of the same period. Neither team scored on the power play.

Katelevsky led all skaters with two goals, three shots on goal and six hits. Pustozyorov recorded two assists, one shot on goal and two hits. Semyonov finished with a goal, an assist, two shots and two hits. Jaskin added a goal, one shot and four hits. Bilyalov faced 28 shots and allowed one goal for his fifth playoff win.

For Metallurg, Press scored the lone goal on three shots. The team’s overall record across all competitions dropped to 57 wins and 23 losses. Ak Bars improved to 52-26.

Metallurg had defeated Ak Bars 4-2 in Game 1 on April 27 in Magnitogorsk, while Ak Bars won Game 2 on April 25 by a 5-2 score. The series continues with Game 4 on Friday, also in Kazan.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Ak Bars 5, Metallurg 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Metallurg a 53.30 percent probability to win.