Prague 5, Bern 3
Prague took down the mighty Bern Bears, and Bryan Little was their biggest player. Little scored a hat trick and one was one of 4 Sparta forwards who had 6 shots on goal. Prague ended up outshooting Bern 39-28. Bear star Jason Spezza had a tough go of it, getting an assist, but he was a minus 3 and 18-20 in the faceoff circle. Prague (14-6-3) is now in fourth place in the Southern Conference, 8 points behind Bern (19-3-1).
Stockholm 5, Minsk 3
The Spartans outshot Minsk 43-27 and came out with guns a’ blazin’. Ryan Smyth and Tuomo Ruutu scored goals and the top powerplay unit produced 2 goals and Stockholm had a 4-0 lead after two periods. Jakub Voracek scored a goal and an assist in a failed Minsk comeback attempt. Stockholm’s Loui Eriksson and Eric Staal each had 3 points. Both teams have 18 points and are mired at the bottom of the Northern Conference.
Moscow 5, Milan 4
A close game in Milan was decided in the final 3 minutes when Moscow scored twice to tie the game and then go ahead. David Jones was the star of the game, scoring two goals and adding two assists. The contribution of his line was sorely needed because the Guerriero were able to completely bottle up the Dynamo’s top line of Alexander Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar and Mike Knuble. Jones, Vaclav Prospal and Michal Handzus were plus 4 as a unit. Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien had a good game for Milan, getting a goal and an assist, blocking 2 shots and registering 3 hits.
Madrid 3, Athens 2
The Royals scored a pair of third period goals to defeating the visiting Greeks 3-2. Joe Pavelski, who is having a great season thus far, scored the game-winner, his 15th of the season in 22 games. Pavelski is 6th in the league in scoring and tied for third in goal scoring with Bryan Little of Prague. Madrid tied the game with a rare Brandon Prust goal. It was his first in the EURO League. Athens’ Scotty Hartnell apparently didn’t like Prust tying the game because five seconds after the ensuing faceoff, those to were fighting at center ice. Athens’ Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves in the defeat.
London 4, Copenhagen 1
David Clarkson scored his 10th of the season and Tyler Bozak his 6th, both in the third period to lead London past the Tridents. Clarkson and Bozak each picked up an assist on the other’s goal. Copenhagen was 0 for 6 on the powerplay, while London was 0 for 5 with the man advantage. Marc Andre Fleury stopped 26 of 27 Copenhagen shots while young guns Jeff Skinner and Michael Grabner each scored his 8th of the season for the Knights. Boyd Gordon had an impressive 7 minutes for the Tridents, getting 2 shots on Fleury, registering 3 hots and winning 2 of 3 faceoffs. Brandon Sutter scored Copenhagen’s lone goal, his 7th of the year.
Geneva 6, Frankfurt 1
Well that had to be the best 9-minute stretch of Darren Helm’s career. Playing on a line with Ryan Malone and the great Teemu Selanne, Helm scored 3 goals in 8:48 of the first period to stake the Generals to a quick 3-0 lead at home. He also assisted on a Selanne goal later in the game. Chris Kunitz added two more for the Generals, while Steven Stamkos scored the lone Frankfurt goal, his 13th of the season.
