ASTANA (Interstat) — Vasily Glotov scored twice and recorded seven shots on goal as visiting SKA Saint Petersburg defeated Barys Astana 5-3 in a Kontinental Hockey League game on Sunday at Barys Arena. The announced attendance was 11,437. SKA improved to 7-1 this season, while Barys fell to 5-4.

SKA entered after a 4-3 win at Traktor Chelyabinsk and a 7-2 home victory over Shanghai Dragons. Earlier this season, SKA also beat HC Sochi 1-0, lost 3-1 at Spartak Moscow, beat Lada Togliatti 2-1 in overtime, defeated Dynamo Moscow 5-3 and beat Lada Togliatti 4-3 in overtime. Barys had lost 6-3 at home to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk in its previous game but had won 4-1 at Dynamo Moscow and 5-0 at Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Barys also lost 3-0 at Metallurg Magnitogorsk, won 6-0 at Lada Togliatti, lost 3-1 at home to Amur Khabarovsk, beat Salavat Yulaev Ufa 8-6 and beat Sibir Novosibirsk 7-1. Glotov came in after an assist at Traktor Chelyabinsk and two shots on goal against Shanghai Dragons.

SKA opened the scoring 56 seconds into the game when Zakhar Bardakov beat the Barys defense for his first goal. It was his first goal of the season. Vasily Atanasov and Daniil Miromanov assisted. Bardakov was penalized for illegal and dangerous equipment at 4:11, but SKA added to its lead at 6:22 when Sergei Plotnikov scored from Bardakov. Plotnikov struck again at 15:38, with Nikolai Goldobin and Scott Wilson assisting, giving SKA a 3-0 advantage before Barys answered. The goals were Plotnikov’s fifth and sixth of the season. Later in the first, Asanali Sarkenov received a five-minute boarding penalty and Miromanov was called for roughing at 16:06.

Barys got going in the second period. Vsevolod Logvin scored at 21:54 from Damir Britikov to make it 3-1. It was his second goal of the season. After Kirill Lyapunov was sent off for high sticking at 29:22, SKA responded with two goals in 94 seconds. Glotov scored at 30:22 from Matvei Korotky and Miromanov. Goldobin was called for holding at 31:37, and Glotov scored again at 31:56 from Vladislav Y. Romanov. The goals were Glotov’s first and second of the season. Logvin added his second of the game at 33:34 from Logan Day and Dinmukhamed Kaiyrzhan, cutting the lead to 5-2. It was Logvin’s third goal of the season.

Penalties accumulated later in the second. Nikolai Chebykin was called for tripping at 35:14, and matching late penalties to Justin Bailey and Romanov at 39:41. Barys made it 5-3 in the third when Semyon Simonov scored at 51:25, with Chase Evans Priskie and Lyapunov assisting. It was Simonov’s fifth goal of the season. Artemy Pleshkov held firm from there, finishing with 33 saves on 36 shots. The goal was the final scoring play of the game. Barys could not beat Pleshkov again, and SKA protected its two-goal margin.

Glotov, a 5-foot-10, 181-pound forward, led SKA with two goals and seven shots. Logvin, a 6-foot-1, 174-pound forward, matched him with two goals and three shots for Barys. Pleshkov, listed at 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, earned the win with 33 saves. Plotnikov, a 6-foot-1, 207-pound forward, scored twice on two shots. Bardakov, a 6-foot-2, 198-pound forward, had a goal, an assist, one shot, two penalty minutes and two hits. Miromanov, a 6-foot-3, 198-pound defenseman, added two assists, one shot and two penalty minutes. Simonov scored once on three shots for Barys. Lyapunov had an assist, two shots and two penalty minutes. Priskie had an assist and four shots. Atanasov, a 5-foot-8, 139-pound forward, contributed an assist, four shots and one hit.

SKA will next play at CSKA Moscow before home games against Admiral Vladivostok and Severstal Cherepovets. Barys will next play at Ak Bars Kazan before road games at Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk and Spartak Moscow.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Barys 3, SKA 2. Interstat’s ELO system had projected SKA with a 71.5 percent probability to win.