Semyon Varlamov was victorious in his KHL debut as his lockout team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl scored a 2-1 win over Dynamo Minsk for its sixth-straight victory.
The Colorado Avalanche goaltender joined Lokomotiv last week along with Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Artem Anisimov.
On the ice Tuesday, Varlamov allowed a rebound goal by Minsk's Andrei Stas on seven minutes, but by that time forwards Sergei Plotnikov and Niklas Hagman had already given Lokomotiv 2-0 lead.
Varlamov registered 38 saves to keep the score intact and frustrate Dynamo's Evander Kane, another NHLer on his KHL debut.
Kane's move from the Winnipeg Jets was only announced earlier in the day, and when it came to game time the KHL's first Canadian lockout player racked up six shots on goal.
The win returns Lokomotiv, whose team was reassembled following last year's plane crash that killed the entire roster, to the Western Conference summit.
They retake the top spot from Lev Prague, the Czech team that relocated this season from Poprad in neighboring Slovakia. Dynamo remain ninth.
Elsewhere, Severstal Cherepovets gained its biggest victory of the season in a 4-0 home thrashing of Atlant Moscow Region.
Atlant goaltender Anton Khudobin, who joined from the Boston Bruins, saw his stats sink to 17 goals conceded in six matches.
Severstal rose to the seventh place in the West, while Atlant remains fifth.
Three third-period goals against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod brought Vityaz Chekhov its first home win of the season.
Vityaz was 2-1 down after two periods, when defenseman Vladimir Malevich set up goals for wings Artemy Panarin and Evgeny Timkin, with Josh Hennesy adding another for a 4-2 triumph.
It prised Vityaz off the bottom of the Western Conference into 12th place, with Torpedo holding 11th.
