Bern 4, Gothenberg 0
Bern allowed just 13 shots, making for a relatively easy shutout for goalie Mike Smith, and the Bears went to 7-0-0. Jason Spezza kept his astounding start going with two more goals and he now has 17 points in 7 games. Ray Whitney also scored and defenseman Tobias Enstrom’s long wrist shot that got through a mess in front of the net turned out to be the game-winning goal. Right winger Radim Vrbata assisted on three goals. Both teams get a day off Saturday.
Moscow 5, Belfast 3
The Dynamo climbed to .500 at 3-3-1, good enough for the Kharlamov Division lead. Vaclav Prospal led the way for Moscow by getting two assists and being plus 2 for the game. Moscow’s first two goals were both answered by Belfast goals, but the Dynamo were able to pull away with three straight in the second and third periods. Shane O’Brien, Benoit Pouliot and Anze Kopitar scored those goals. The penalty killing units for both teams were on their game, Belfast turning away 4 Moscow powerplays, and Moscow stopping Belfast 6 times with the man advantage. Almost 22,000 attended the game in Northern Ireland.
Geneva 6, Stockholm 2
Dennis Wideman was one of five Generals who had outstanding games in Stockholm. Wideman scored three goals, including the first two of the game, while teammates Teemu Selanne, David Desharnais and Nick Foligno all had at least three points. Selanne was a plus 5 and Desharnais a plus 4. Goalie Kari Lehtonen will be happy there’s a day off on Saturday after stopping 47 Spartan shots. Two Jordans scored Stockholm’s goals: Jordan Leopold and Jordan Caron.
St. Petersburg 4, Athens 3
Daniel Alfredsson is a hero in western Russia today after being somewhat of a goat for the first 6 games of the Lynx’ existence. Alfie had not scored a single point all year until his wrist shot beat Corey Crawford on the short side and put St. Petersburg up 4-3 with 16:21 left in the third period. The Lynx held on for their first victory of the season. For Petrograd, defenseman Brent Burns and Brad Richards each tallied 3 points, while Erik Cole had 6 shots and 2 points. Athens had two goals from big David Backes. More than 18,000 fans showed up for the game in St. Petersburg. Before the game, Athens sent fan favorite George Parros down to the farm club, but he will have to clear waivers to remain a Greek.
Prague 2, Oslo 1
This game was one of the best, most hard-fought games of the season so far. Goalies Ryan Miller of Prague and Jimmy Howard of Oslo were remarkable, stopping 37 and 34 shots, respectively. Ruslan Fedotenko scored the game’s first goal in the first period as ferocious forechecking by him and linemates Chad Larose and Jay McClement paid off on the scoreboard. Oslo outshot Sparta 17-14 in a wild first period, but Miller stopped everything that came his way. The second period slowed a little, with 21 shots being taken by both teams combined, but the score remained 1-0. Three late Oslo penalties probably cost Oslo the game. Daniel Sedin’s checking from behind major penalty definitely cost them. P-A Parenteau, positioned to Howard’s left on the ensuing power play, took a cross-ice feed and from Brett Clark and slammed it home to make it 2-0. Still, the Devils weren’t ready to quit. They battled back to make it 2-1 about 4 minutes later on Curtis Glencross’ first of the season. But as they were sustaining pressure on Miller in the Prague zone, Matt D’Agostini was over-aggressive and had to sit with a cross checking minor. And in the waning seconds of the game, with Howard on the Oslo bench in favor of an extra attacker, Jason Chimera was booked for roughing. Prague and Oslo both have away games Sunday after a day off Saturday.
