MAGNITOGORSK (Interstat) — Lucas Johnson had two goals and three assists Friday, and Metallurg Magnitogorsk scored four first-period goals on the way to a 7-1 Kontinental Hockey League victory over visiting Salavat Yulaev Ufa at Arena Metallurg.

Metallurg struck quickly and never let the game become competitive. Dmitry Silantyev opened the scoring 1:05 into the first period, with Vladimir E. Tkachyov and Johnson getting assists. Alexander Siryatsky doubled the lead at 3:01 off a Sergei Tolchinsky assist, and Tkachyov made it 3-0 at 3:33 with help from Stepan Starkov and Johnson. The three goals came in a span of 2 minutes, 28 seconds. Johnson then scored at 17:47 from Valery Orekhov and Nathan Todd, capping a four-goal first period. The Johnson goal came while Salavat Yulaev’s Jack Rodewald served a high-sticking penalty. The hosts took a 4-0 lead into the first intermission.

The second period brought more of the same before Salavat Yulaev briefly answered. Ruslan Iskhakov scored his fifth goal of the season at 25:09 with an assist from Siryatsky to make it 5-0. Maxim Zagrebin put Salavat Yulaev on the board with his first goal at 25:33, assisted by Matthew Maggio and Nikita Shcherbakov. But Tolchinsky restored the six-goal margin at 25:59, scoring his third goal from Johnson and Orekhov. Iskhakov’s goal came during 4-on-4 play after matching minors to Vovchenko and Zharovsky. Tolchinsky’s goal came on a power play after Yefremov’s holding-the-stick minor. That gave Johnson his fifth point of the night and helped Metallurg carry a 6-1 lead into the third.

Johnson added his second goal at 57:17 of the third, assisted by Todd, to close the scoring. Smolin made 26 saves on 27 shots for Metallurg to earn the win. Jack Rodewald was called for high sticking at 16:13 of the first, and Zelenov and Brosseau received matching roughing minors at 18:07. In the second, Vovchenko and Zharovsky received matching minors at 23:53. Yefremov was whistled for holding the stick at 25:54, Rempal for slashing at 29:31, and Zelenov and Brosseau again received matching roughing calls at 37:20. Todd was called for tripping at 38:38. In the third, Zelenov received a holding minor at 42:59, Korotkov was called for interference at 48:23, and Shcherbakov received a tripping minor at 55:06.

Johnson finished with two goals, three assists, four shots and one hit. Smolin made 26 saves on 27 shots to secure the win in net. Siryatsky had a goal, an assist and four shots. Tolchinsky, a Moscow native, had a goal, an assist, three shots and one hit. Tkachyov had a goal, an assist and two shots. Orekhov contributed two assists and six shots, the highest shot total among skaters. Todd had two assists, three shots and two penalty minutes. Silantyev had a goal, four shots and one hit. Iskhakov had a goal and one shot, while Zagrebin had a goal and one shot for Salavat Yulaev.

Metallurg Magnitogorsk improved to 11-4 this season, while Salavat Yulaev Ufa dropped to 7-7. Attendance at Arena Metallurg was 7,500. The loss continued a difficult road stretch for Salavat Yulaev, which had won 5-4 in overtime at Sibir Novosibirsk in its previous game. Metallurg, meanwhile, built on a 3-0 home win over Admiral Vladivostok in its last outing. The teams are scheduled to meet again later this season. Salavat Yulaev had lost three of its previous four games before Friday. Metallurg had alternated wins and losses over its previous four.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Metallurg Magnitogorsk 4, Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2, and Interstat’s ELO system gave Metallurg Magnitogorsk a 64.4 percent probability to win.