Dynamo Moscow survived late pressure to beat Avangard Omsk 3-2 on Saturday, staying alive in the Gagarin Cup final and pulling the series score back to 3-2.
Diminutive forward Mikhail Anisin put Dynamo 1-0 up four minutes into the first period, steaming in from the right to bury the puck in the corner from a tight angle.
Yuri Babenko doubled the lead a couple of minutes later, forcing the puck home under home goaltender Karri Ramo. The goal was allowed to stand after a video referral.
Vanguard came close twice toward the end of the period through Martin Scoular and Alexei Kalyuzhny, but Alexander Yeryomenko was solid in the Dynamo goal to deflect both shots away.
The home team turned up the heat in the second period as Vladimir Pervushin's shot ricocheted off the frame of the goal.
Yeryomenko came to the rescue twice in quick succession, parrying Anssi Salema's and Martin Skoula's effort before Dynamo broke and scored a third through Konstantin Gorovikov against the run of play.
Anton Kuryanov pulled one back for the hosts later in the period, muscling past Dynamo defenseman from the left wing to tuck it into the corner.
Avangard forward Yuri Alexandrov struck from distance 20 seconds from time, firing from distance into the top corner as Yeryomenko grabbed at thin air.
The next game is Monday in Moscow, where an Avangard win will take the trophy to Omsk.
The Omsk team drew first blood in the series last week, Perezhogin's third-period goal snatching a 2-1 win in the opener on home ice. But Dynamo Moscow reversed that score in the second to level it thanks to Leo Komarov's controversial second-period goal.
Avangard went 2-1 up on Tuesday and 3-1 up on Thursday both thanks to Perezhogin goals.
