Madrid 6, Milan 0
The ref hates Milan. It’s the only explanation. On Friday, the Guerriero were whistled 11 times for penalties and the Royals went the whole game without being shorthanded even once. And the Royals really took advantage of the situation, scoring 5 powerplay goals. Michal Neuvirth did a fine job in goal saving 15 shots to earn the shutout in the Demitra Division battle. Gabriel Landeskog, the top pick in the draft, scored a pair of goals and had two assists, while fellow Swede Henrik Sedin added 3 assists. Those two both have 21 points now and they are tied for fifth on the Royals in scoring. Madrid is now in 7th place in the Southern Conference, while Milan is in 8th. The contest featured a fight, as Mike Richards of Milan and Madrid’s Brandon Prust squared off.
Berlin 4, Zurich 3 (shootout)
Ilya Kovalchuk scored two powerplay goals and assisted on the first goal of the game by Rostislav Klesla, but that effort was only good enough for one point, as his Zurich Lions lost in a shootout in Berlin. Kris Versteeg and Matt Carle each scored 2 points to lead the Smurfs, but it was former Vancouver Canuck Alexander Edler who scored the loudest goal of the night, winning the game in the fourth round of the shootout. The line of Manny Malhotra, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Michal Frolik probably heard some choice words after the game from Zurich coach Dale Hunter because as a unit, they were minus 3.
Bern 6, Munich 3
Bern’s second line of Andy McDonald, Johan Franzen and Ray Whitney swept the three star honors, but teh Bears’ first line wasn’t too shabby either. Whitney scored a hat trick, while McDonald had 4 assists and Franzen had 3. The Jason Spezza line, with Henrik Zetterberg and Radim Vrbata contributed to the league leaders’ latest win with a Spezza goal and assists on a Whitney powerplay goal.Mike Smith’s 31 saves and Adrian Aucoin’s 3 hits and 2 blacked shots helped at the other end. The game featured three of the league’s top three individual scorers. Spezza and Whitney are ranked 1 and 4, while Munich’s Jumbo Joe Thornton is knocking on the door in third place, a point behind Jonathan Toews of Bratislava. Thornton had 2 assists in the game and fired 6 shots on net.
Bratislava 5, Stockholm 4
Bratislava won their 12th in a row despite being outshot by 7 shots in Stockholm. The Spartans mounted a furious comeback effort in the third period, outshooting the Eagles 17-4, but young backup goalie Richard Bachman, playing in his third game of the season, held firm. Defenseman Mark Fayne scored two goals for Stockholm, as did center Eric Staal, who also took 6 shots and won 20 of 33 faceoffs. Bratislava was led by Martin Hanzal and linemate Tyler Ennis, who each had 3 points.
Copenhagen 7, Dublin 3
Copenhagen is starting to run away with the Northern Conference lead after scoring the last 5 goals of the game to erase a 3-2 Dublin lead. There was a lot of hitting in this Ahearne Division matchup with 5 players being credited with 5 hits each. Stephen Weiss orchestrated the Trident offense, earning himself 3 assists. Carl Gunnarsson and Fyodor Tyutin were both plus 3 on the Copenhagen blueline, with Tyutin getting a goal and Gunnarsson getting 2 assists. Dany Heatley scored twice for Copenhagen. Dublin has won just 2 of its last 10 games and is now 9-11-1 overall and in 7th place in the Northern Conference.
Helsinki 5, Minsk 3
Helsinki held a 43-26 shot advantage and came back in the third period to please their home fans. Trailing 3-2, the Jokerit struck with Antti Miettinen scoring twice inside a minute. They were his first two goals of the season and they were followed by a Jarret Stoll empty-netter. Minsk’s Swedish forwards did their part, with Patrick Berglund and Nic Bacstrom each recording a goal and an assisting, and Patrik Hornquist getting the other Hussar goal.
