A two-goal night from Luboš Horký helped propel the Lahti Pelicans past Dynamo Pardubice in a nail-biter that saw the Finns survive a late surge from their Czech hosts to win it 3-2 and keep their Playoff hopes alive.

Lahti found their footing early as they manufactured two goals in the span of 30 seconds to open up their contest against Pardubice. Horký kicked off the scoring for the Finns when he cashed in on a 2-on-1 opportunity, elevating the puck far side over the stick of Roman Will who made his fourth appearance this season for the Czech side.

Will's stick side was tested again when, moments later, Lahti continued applying pressure in Pardubice's zone as Lars Bryggman worked the puck to the point where Johannes Johannesen rifled it past the Czech netminder to make it a 2-0 game.

Momentum shifted late in the period, however, as Lahti saw their lead disappear when the home side netted two powerplay tallies on an extended man-advantage that came about after Konsta Hirvonen was called for a major penalty.

Lukáš Radil secured the hosts' first goal off a one-timer that beat Jasper Patrikainen far side while Jiří Smejkal registered his second of the tournament when he whacked home a rebound less than a minute later to knot the game at 2-2.

Then in the second, penalty shots were awarded to each club but solid goaltending foiled either side's bid to break the deadlock.

Pardubice's Martin Kaut had the first opportunity, going backhand forehand before attempting to slide it five-hole, but Patrikainen stayed with him and stoned the chance.

With his chance, the Finns' leading scorer Leevi Tukiainen nearly reclaimed the lead for his side when he took his time and tried to fake out Will down low with a backhand attempt, but the Czech backstop's right pad denied the opportunity.

Puck dropped in the third where, six minutes in, a passing play quickly went laterally as Lahti took back the lead when Horký found twine for his second of the night. The forward rushed the puck up ice before dishing it to Iikka Kangasniemi who returned it cross crease to Horký for an easy tap-in that made it 3-2.

Still trailing by one, Pardubice opted to pull their netminder with less than two minutes to go. A strong effort on defence from the Finnish side, however, made sure the Czechs didn't find the equaliser as the Finns hung on to register their third win of the season.