KAZAN, Russia (Interstat) — Dmitry Katelevsky scored two first-period goals as Ak Bars Kazan defeated Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4-1 Wednesday at TatNeft Arena, taking a 2-1 lead in their Kontinental Hockey League playoff series.

Katelevsky opened the scoring at 15:04 of the first period on assists from Nikita Dynyak and Alexei Pustozyorov, then struck again at 18:08 with help from Pustozyorov and Mitchell Miller. Dmitrij Jaskin made it 3-0 at 27:09 of the second period, assisted by Nikita Lyamkin and Kirill Semyonov.

Robin Press put Metallurg M on the board at 31:52 of the second period, but Kirill Semyonov sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 59:05 of the third period. Semyonov also added an assist.

Ak Bars goaltender Timur Bilyalov made 27 saves on 28 shots for the win. Metallurg M’s season record fell to 57-23 overall, while Ak Bars improved to 52-26. The announced attendance was 8,829. Game 4 is Friday at TatNeft Arena.