Couture OT goal sinks Milan for first time

Berlin 4, Milan 3

The Smurfs knocked the Guerriero from the ranks of the unbeaten, getting an overtime game-winner from Logan Couture on the first shot in extra time. R.J. Umberger assisted on the winner and those two linemates created three of the four Berlin goals against Antti Niemi. David Krejci scored the other Berlin goal. Milan played a disciplined game, taking just one minor penalty, and they outshot Berlin 38-3o, but still lost. Jordan Staal, Antoine Vermette and Dustin Brown found the net for the Guerriero.

London, 3, Dublin 2

The Knights got a measure of revenge with a one-goal win over the Fighting Irish on Thursday. It was the third and fourth lines that came through for coach Ken Hitchcock before 14,750 fans. The line of Mason Raymond, David Clarkson and Tyler Bozak provided the first two London goals, but it was Nathan Gerbe’s one-timer from the left faceoff circle that wound up winning it for the Knights. Scott Gomez and Michal Repik each picked up their first assists of the season on the Gerbe goal. Gomez also dealt out 3 hits in his eight minutes of work. For Dublin, old man Jaromir Jagr was among the most active Irish players, being credited with 4 hits.

Zurich 6, Gothenberg 3

In a game between the teams with no nicknames, there were not a lot of shots, but there were a lot of goals on goalies Martin Brodeur of Gothenberg and Brian Elliott of Zurich. Each team was 1 for 6 on powerplays and Zurich outshot Gothenberg 24-22. Nine different players scored goals in the contest, and the key appeared to be the 4-1 lead Zurich took in the first period. Patrice Bergeron of Zurich had a goal and 2 assists to lead all players in scoring. Teammate Ilya Kovalchuk had the most shots of anyone with 6. Gothenberg better hope for a tighter defense on Friday when they host unbeaten Bern.

Bratislava 7, Athens 2

Athens didn’t seem prepared for the start of the game, getting outshot 13-1 and outscored 4-0 by the end of the first period. A 5-minute checking from behind major penalty taken by Lubomir Visnovsky cost the Greeks two power play goals in that period. By the end of 60 minutes, Bratislava had outshot the Greeks 30-18. It was mainly Czechs and Slovaks who did the most damage for Bratislava, as Zdeno Chara and Marian Hossa (both Slovakian) scored two goals apiece and Martin Hanzal had a goal and an assist. Athens will travel north to St. Petersburg for a game against the Lynx on Friday.

Oslo 5, Helsinki 1

Alexandre Burrows had two third-period goals to clinch the win in a Nordic tussle. Pavel Datsyuk, Thomas Vanek and Shea Weber also scored for the Devils, who got solid goaltending from Jimmy Howard. Helsinki had more powerplays and more shots on goal, but only Martin St. Louis gave the 18,000-plus Finnish fans something to really cheer about when he deftly took a lead pass from Nick Spaling, beat defenseman Kyle Quincey along the boards and deked Howard down to the ice before roofing one. Weber of Oslo did not receive one of the game’s three stars, but probably could have. Aside from scoring his second goal of the season and getting 3 shots on Ilya Bryzagalov in the Helsinki net, he was a plus 3, blocked 5 shots and dished out 5 hits.

Bern 5, Edinburgh 1

Ho-hum, the Bern Bears won another lopsided victory Thursday in Scotland. David Steckel’s second goal of the year ruined Mike Smith’s shutout bid in the second period and brought the Capitals to within a goal of the Bears, but it was the lone bright spot for the home team. Bern outshot Edinburgh 41-24 and got goals from five different players, including Jason Spezza, who now has 10. Bern now sits atop the league standings at 6-0-0 and has scored 35 goals while giving up just 7. Spezza leads in individual scoring (15 points), as well as goal scoring (10) and shots (34). Bern flies to Sweden to play Gothenberg on Friday. Both clubs will be playing with no days’ rest.

League notes:

Zach Parise of Prague has been credited with more takeaways than any other EURO player. He has 17 in 6 games. Next in line behind him in that category are three forwards – Patrice Bergeron of Zurich, Derek Stepan of Edinburgh and Ryan O’Reilly of Athens. Each has 15.