Frankfurt 5, Belfast 0
Claude Giroux scored 2 for the Inferno and Ondrej Pavelec shut out the Giants in front of a crowd of 14,312 German fans. Giroux now has 10 goals this season. The 2 points in the standings pushed Frankfurt ahead of Athens and into 23rd place, just 2 points behind 4 other teams. Steve Staois and Steve Stamkos each blocked 3 shots in front of Pavelec and Staois scored his 3rd of the season. Stamkos had a pair of assists, as did Alex Steen and Chris Kelly for Frankfurt.
Edinburgh 3, Copenhagen 2 (overtime)
The Clarke MacArthur to Brandon Dubinsky to Lauri Korpikoski combination worked for two goals in regulation time for Edinburgh, but James Neal’s 8th of the season won the game in overtime for the Capitals. Korpikoski now has 12 goals this season. The point Copenhagen gained in regulation time keeps them in sole possession of the Northern Conference lead, a point ahead of London. The Tridents’ goals were scored by Joni Pitkanen and Andrew Ladd. Derek Roy of Copenhagen limped and winced his way through the game after blocking 4 Edinburgh shots.
Dublin 6, Prague 1
A building full of yelling Irishmen helped the home town favorites wallop Prague on Tuesday. Prague outshot the home team 15-11 after a period but were on the losing end of a 1-0 score thanks to a Phil Kessel slapshot that beat Ryan Miller. Then, about five minutes into the second period, Miller’s roof caved in. He allowed 5 Dublin goals in seven minutes and was yanked from the game. Kessel’s second goal of the game was the proverbial straw that broke Miller’s back. He was on his way to the shower as Kessel and his teammates were celebrating that goal. Ryan Kesler and Nick Schultz each had 2 assists for Dublin. Jason Pominville scored his 12th of the season to ruin Evgeny Nabakov’s shutout. Pominville led all players with shots on goal with 6 in the game, but two of his teammates are tied for the league lead this season in that category. Ryan Getzlaf and Zach Parise have 107 shots this season, as does Dublin’s Kesler.
Munich 4, Bern 3
The Duns proved again that they are difficult to beat on Munich ice, even if the other team has Jason Spezza. Spezza added three to his EURO-leading goal total of 24, but Munich won thanks to the heroics of one of Spezza’s closest rivals for the scoring race. Joe Thornton had two goals – one of them the game-winner – and an assist. But defenseman Dan Boyle of the Duns was voted the first star thanks to 3 assists, 6 hits and 2 blocked shots. Munich has only lost once in regulation time in 13 home games.
Berlin 3, Athens 2
Logan Couture is the top Smurf this year in terms of scoring and he added two to his total to help beat Athens in front of a Berlin crowd of 19,304. Couture made a quick move to split the Athens defensemen – Lubomir Visnovsky and Ian White and the then rocketed a shot over Corey Crawford’s shoulder in the third period. That proved to be the game winner for Berlin. Couture now has 12 goals and 33 points in 26 games. R.J. Umberger is second on the team in scoring with 27 points. Athens’ goals were both point shots and both were the second of the season for the goal scorers – Jared Spurgeon and recently acquired Tim Gleason.
Gothenburg 6, Helsinki 1
Gothenburg has now beaten Helsinki all 3 times they’ve played against each other. In two days, they’ll play Geneva, against whom they have also had great success, conquering them twice in two tries. Against the Jokerit, Cal Clutterbuck and Sam Gagner worked well together, as Clutterbuck scored two and Gagner had a goal and 2 assists. Ryan Jones also had 3 points for Gothenburg. Erik Johnson was magnificent for the winners. He was a plus 3 with 2 assists, 4 hits and 3 blocked shots. Helsinki’s only goal came on a nice shot by Martin St. Louis, his 8th of the season.
