UFA (Interstat) — Damir Shaimardanov made 30 saves and HC Sochi held off Salavat Yulaev Ufa 2-1 on Tuesday in a Kontinental Hockey League game at Ufa Arena. Sochi improved to 6-13, while Salavat Yulaev dropped to 10-11 before an announced attendance of 8,518. Shaimardanov, Sochi’s top star, stopped 30 of 31 shots and earned the win as the visitors protected a one-goal lead through the final period. The victory gave Sochi a second straight win after its recent 4-3 road victory at Lada. He had stopped 8 of 8 shots against Shanghai Dragons and 10 of 14 against Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in his previous two appearances.

Sochi opened the scoring at 9:23 of the first period when Artur Gizdatullin scored his fourth goal of the season from Dmitry Kagarlitsky. Gizdatullin finished with a goal on one shot and a hit. The visitors added to their lead 45 seconds into the second period, when Denis Vengryzhanovsky scored from Matvei Guskov and Nikita Gusev. Vengryzhanovsky had a goal on two shots, two penalty minutes and a hit. Guskov recorded an assist, three shots and four hits, while Gusev had an assist and three shots. Kagarlitsky finished with an assist and two shots. The early lead allowed Sochi to play with the advantage and forced Salavat Yulaev to chase the game. Sochi scored once in the first period and once in the second.

Salavat Yulaev answered at 29:01 of the second period. Maxim Zagrebin scored his third goal of the season from Matthew Maggio and Sergei Varlov. Zagrebin had a goal on two shots. Maggio recorded an assist and three shots, and Varlov had an assist, one shot and four hits. Jack Rodewald also had one shot for Salavat Yulaev. The goal cut Sochi’s lead to 2-1 and gave the home side life. The home side pushed for an equalizer, but Shaimardanov and Sochi’s defense kept Salavat Yulaev from tying the game. The 5-foot-8, 165-pound Zagrebin was one of Salavat Yulaev’s most active forwards. Shaimardanov was not beaten again after Zagrebin’s goal. Sochi held Salavat Yulaev scoreless the rest of the way.

Penalties shaped the flow. The teams combined for nine minor penalties, and neither side scored on the power play. Sochi’s Yaroslav Belyakov was called for holding 1:31 into the game, and Vengryzhanovsky went off for tripping at 11:35 of the first period. Salavat Yulaev’s Yaroslav Tsulygin was whistled for tripping at 19:53 of the first, and Nikita Zorkin went off for tripping at 30:29 of the second. Sochi’s Jesse Graham was penalized for throwing the puck outside the playing area at 36:38 of the second. In the third period, matching penalties to Salavat Yulaev’s Vladislav Yefremov for embellishment and Sochi’s Viktor Baldayev for cross checking came at 46:04. Zorkin received a second penalty for throwing the puck outside the playing area at 57:39, and Tsulygin was called for displacing the goal frame at 59:19. Sochi killed off the late pressure and closed out the one-goal win.

Kagarlitsky added an assist and two shots for Sochi. Gizdatullin’s goal was his fourth of the season. Salavat Yulaev, meanwhile, remained at 10-11 after a close home loss. Sochi’s next game is at Lokomotiv. Salavat Yulaev next plays at Shanghai. Salavat Yulaev had lost to Ak Bars in its previous game before this defeat. Sochi has now won two of its last three games. Sochi had also beaten Salavat Yulaev earlier this season.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Salavat Yulaev 3, Sochi 1. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Salavat Yulaev with a 79.8 percent probability to win. The over/under line was 5.5, and the game’s total score was 3.