MOSCOW, January 5 (R-Sport) - Two goals from Igor Volkov gave Avangard Omsk 3-1 victory at Sibir Novosibirsk that returns the team to first place in the Eastern Conference on Saturday.

Avangard is now two points ahead of Evgeni Malkin’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk, while Sibir remains in seventh place.

Volkov scored the opener on 11 minutes and doubled the lead early in the second period, hitting the near corner of Sergei Gayduchenko’s net.

Czech wing Tomas Zaborsky made the score 3-0 in the third period, before Evgeny Fedorov managed to score a consolation goal.

Elsewhere, Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk snatched a 5-4 comeback win at Metallurg Novokuznetsk in overtime.

Yugra closed in on the playoffs zone, shortening the gap to eighth-placed Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk to four points.

A hectic first period ended with the 3-2 advantage of the hosts.

Then Yuri Nazarov increased Metallurg’s lead, netting his second goal of the game, before Sergei Demagin and Rinat Ibragimov leveled the score late in the second period.

No goals came in the third and Ibragimov brought the visitors victory just three seconds before the end of overtime.

Metallurg has lost seven of its last eight games, badly hurting its chances of qualifying for the playoffs.