Frankfurt 2, Minsk 0
Ondrej Pavelec shut out the Minsk Hussars, making 23 saves, while Steven Stamkos scored his 16th and Bryan Allen his 3rd for Frankfurt. Stamkos had 7 shots on goal, while Allen had 3. The only other player to have more than 2 shots was Jakub Voracek of Minsk, who had 5. It was Pavelec’s second shutout of the season. Frankfurt keeps trying to break out of the EURO League basement and are currently in 23 rd overall, ahead of Athens. Minsk is just ahead of them, tied for 21st overall with Belfast.
Gothenburg 6, Belfast 0
Gothenburg steamrolled over the Giants, outshooting them 41-18. Carl Hagelin scored a pair of goals and had one assist, while defenseman Erik Johnson had a goal and two assists, to lead the way. Anders Lindback, Gothenburg’s backup goalie, started and got the win. Victor Hedman was Belfast’s best player, dishing out 4 hits and blocking one shot in 22 minutes of even plus/minus play.
Dublin 4, Stockholm 3
Phil Kessel pulled the rug out from under the Spartans, as he scored the go-ahead goal with just 6 seconds left in regulation after taking a pretty feed from Bobby Ryan to beat Stockholm’s Cam Ward. Dublin’s Tim Thomas got the win, making 28 saves in the process. The goal was Kessel’s second of the game and 10th of the season. His clutch play overshadowed the fine game turned in by the Spartans’ Eric Staal, who scored a pair of powerplay goals to give him 15 this season. The Northern Conference standings have really tightened up lately, with St. Petersburg taking the top spot for the first time this season, but the first 6 teams are separated by just 4 points. Dublin is in that schmozzle, tied for second with Copenhagen, 2 points beneath the Lynx.
St. Petersburg 5, Munich 3
The Lynx jumped in front 5-1, thanks to a three-goal outburst in the second period, and then held off a furious Dun attack in the third period to grab the win and secure first place in the Northern Conference. Pekka Rinne deserves most of the credit, as his St. Petersburg team was outshot 25-3 in the third period and 50-23 in the game. Blake Wheeler and Eric Belanger scored two goals apiece for the Lynx, who got a single tally from David Legwand. Patrik Elias, Milan Hejduk and Roman Hamrlik scored for Munich.
Madrid 4, Zurich 2
If a game was only a period long, Zurich would have left Spain with two points, but Madrid came back with a dominating second period and then iced its cake with 3 goals int he third period. Ten different Royals had one point each. Included in that collection was Maxim Lapierre’s first goal of the season. One of Madrid’s strengths this season has been faceoff wins and even Zurich’s faceoff master, Patrice Bergeron couldn’t get a win in that column. While he had an assist, 7 shots and 3 blocked shots, Bergeron was only 12 of 26 in the faceoff circle. His chief rival on Tuesday, Joe Pavelski of Madrid, was better, going 22 of 38.
