MOSCOW (Interstat) — Pavel Karnaukhov recorded a hat trick, and CSKA Moscow held off SKA Saint Petersburg 6-5 on Tuesday in a Kontinental Hockey League game at CSKA Ice Palace. The home victory improved CSKA’s season record to 7 wins and 3 losses, while SKA dropped to 7 wins and 2 losses. Attendance at CSKA Ice Palace was 8,689. CSKA, the home team, never trailed after the first period, though SKA repeatedly cut into the lead and made the finish tense. The teams combined for 11 goals in a fast-paced matchup.

SKA opened the scoring at 5:24 of the first period when Vasily Atanasov scored his third goal of the season. Zakhar Bardakov and Sergei Plotnikov assisted. CSKA tied the game at 10:32 on Karnaukhov’s second goal of the season, with Klim Kostin and Nikita Nesterov assisting. Nikolai Kovalenko then put CSKA ahead at 13:46, scoring off a feed from Denis Guryanov. A tripping penalty to Sorkin Maxim at 5:04 gave SKA an early power play, but CSKA killed it before Atanasov’s goal.

SKA pulled even at 21:53 of the second period when Atanasov scored again, this time with Yegor Savikov and Nikolai Goldobin assisting. CSKA regained the lead only 21 seconds later as Kovalenko scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Guryanov and Ivan Drozdov. SKA answered at 25:12 when Rocco Grimaldi scored, with Nikolai Chebykin and Daniil Miromanov picking up assists. Kovalenko received a two-minute interference penalty at 20:48, shortly before Atanasov’s tying goal.

CSKA seized control late in the second period. Karnaukhov scored at 37:58 from Kostin and Nesterov, then completed his hat trick at 39:09 with Yegor Zamula and Drozdov assisting. The goals gave CSKA a two-goal cushion entering the third period. In the third, Guryanov received a tripping penalty at 41:14. CSKA killed the penalty and then extended its lead when Dmitry Buchelnikov scored at 44:16, with Drozdov collecting his third assist of the game. That made it 6-3.

SKA did not fade. Nikita Dishkovsky scored at the 46-minute mark, assisted by Vladislav Y. Romanov and Sergei Sapego. Savikov then took a tripping penalty at 46:35. Despite the penalty, SKA kept pressing. Romanov scored at 49:48 from Andrei Pedan and Matvei Korotky, cutting the deficit to one. CSKA held on over the final minutes to preserve the one-goal win. No further goals were scored after Romanov’s strike. SKA’s final push fell short.

Karnaukhov finished with three goals, four shots on goal and three hits for CSKA. Kovalenko had two goals, four shots and two penalty minutes. Drozdov contributed three assists, two shots and two hits. For SKA, Atanasov scored twice and registered six shots. Dishkovsky had a goal, two shots and two hits. Romanov had a goal, an assist, one shot and five hits. Nesterov added two assists and one shot for CSKA. Guryanov had two assists, two penalty minutes and two hits. Buchelnikov scored once and had one shot and one hit. Derek Barach recorded four shots for CSKA.

CSKA entered the game having won two straight, including a 5-0 road victory over Lada Togliatti and a 2-0 road win over Amur Khabarovsk. Earlier this season, CSKA also earned a shootout win at Admiral Vladivostok and road victories at Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and HC Sochi. SKA arrived after road wins over Barys Astana and Traktor Chelyabinsk. SKA also had home victories over Shanghai Dragons, Dynamo Moscow and Lada Togliatti, plus an overtime win against Lada Togliatti.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of CSKA 3, SKA 2. Its ELO system gave CSKA a 53.4 percent probability to win.