Despite some heroic efforts from visiting keeper, Konstantin Barulin, Dynamo Moscow comfortably beat Atlant 3-0 to stay third in the KHL’s Western Conference.

­Atlant had suffered four straight defeats and sat fifth in the Western Conference, eight points behind third-placed Dynamo.

Both sides had been thrashed in their previous encounters and were eager to prove their worth in front of Russia head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, who attended the clash.

It was that very lack of defensive awareness that allowed Dynamo to score carbon copy goals late in the first period and the Blue-and-Whites never looked back.

First, Denis Tolpeko collected a two-zone pass to get one-on-one and the puck jumped past Russia's international Konstantin Barulin.

And just eighteen seconds after the restart, the hosts doubled their lead. This time Grigory Shafigulin broke away, leaving the goaltender guessing, 2-0.

Five minutes into the second and the home team earned a penalty shot. But Barulin turned away an effort by Dynamo's new forward Mikhail Anisin to keep Atlant in the game.

In the final period Dynamo were attacking, but the 27-year old goalie denied all their efforts.
However, even the best Russian netminder was helpless when the Blue-and-Whites scored an empty-netter in the dying seconds of the game. Anisin sealed the final score at 3-0 with his first goal for Dynamo.

“Preparation for the play-offs is already underway," Dynamo’s Mikhail Anisin told RT. “Tension and pressure is piling up in every game. Our team proved to be united tonight. It was a well-deserved win.”

With the loss Atlant suffered their fifth consecutive defeat, while Dynamo seem set to book the third place in the Western Conference with ten matches to go before the play-off starts.