Helsinki 6, Dublin 5 (shootout)

Keith Yandle’s improbable goal with 3 seconds left in regulation earned the Dublin Fightin’ Irish a point in the standings, but Ilya Bryzgalov’s pressure-cooker saves in overtime and the shootout earned 2 for Helsinki and their new owner, oldtimehockey. Anthony Stewart took a delaying the game penalty with 35 seconds left, and that did in fact prolong the game, because it put Dublin on the powerplay. With frantic play going on all around Bryzgalov, Phil Kessel found Ryan Kesler in front but Kesler’s stuff shut was blocked by Bryzgalov’s pad. The rebound came out about 12 feet and Yandle was the first man to the puck and he sent it on over the goalie was now down on the ice. Yandle also scored the first goal of the game and he now has 9 on the season.  In the shootout, John Tavares scored for Helsinki, while Bryzgalov stoned all three Irish shooters. Kesler of Dublin and Tavares and Brad Marchand of Helsinki all had 3 points on Sunday. Despite the win with Bryzgalov in net, oldtimehockey has said he is looking to shop the Russian astronomer/goalie. He is said to have had a lengthy conversation with a general manager of an Ahearne Division team, although no one would confirm that report and it is not know what the topic of conversation was.

Copenhagen 3, St. Petersburg 2

In a showdown at the top of the Northern Conference, Copenhagen’s forwards were the difference. Dany Heatley, for example, know a while back as a scoring machine, set up two second period goals with nice passes and he blocked two shots head toward his own net. Troy Brouwer, who plays the other wing on the Tridents’ second line with Heatley and Derek Roy, had five shots on goal and he scored the game’s first goal. First line center Stephen Weiss scored a shorthanded goal and had four shots and two blocked shots. St. Petersburg kept it close throughout the game, thanks to goals by Artem Anisimov and defenseman Brent Burns. The two clubs are now tied at the top of the conference, but three other teams are with 3 points of them.

Edinburgh 3, Minsk 2

Edinburgh had everything going their way for a 12-minute stretch of the second period and they were able to play Minsk at least even for the rest of the time.  Brandon Dubinsky and Andrew Cogliano each scored his first goal of the season in the second period, just 18 seconds apart. Then a few seconds later Nick Grossman of Minsk took the first of his two penalties in rapid succession and the Hussars couldn’t gain much momentum from that point on against Henrik Lundquist and the Caps. Francois Beauchemin played well for Edinburgh, getting an assist, 4 shots, 3 hits and he was a plus 2. Jakub Voracek and Zac Rinadlo scored goals for the Hussars. Edinburgh drubbed the Frankfurt Inferno 24 hours earlier by a 4-2 score. In that game four different Capitals scored and Lundquist only faced 15 shots.

Prague 4, Paris 3

Alex Pietrangelo scored twice in the third period in an attempt to salvage at least a point against visiting Prague, but he came up a goal short. Pietrangelo now has 11 goals this season, which is more than any other EURO defenseman has.  Jason Pominville’s 19th of the season, scored on a 2-on-1 with an assist from Ryan Getzlaf, wound up being the game-winning goal. Neither team had alot of powerplay chances, but there were 5 PP goals scored in the game. Paris 3 for 4 with the man advantage, while the Sparta were 2 for 5. Getzlaf and Bryan Little each had 2 assists, and Getzlaf and Dmitri Kulikov each had 6 hits for Prague. For Paris, Evgeny Malkin had a goal and 2 assists and is currently 6th in the league in individual scoring with 50 points.

Bratislava 5, London 0

Matt Greene scored two goals, which is a surprise, and Richard Bachman turned in a 35-save shutout, which even more of a surprise. The unexpected contributions from players who didn’t play the night before in the Eagles’ 4-0 loss in Geneva helped them rebound in London.  Bratislava has been faltering lately. It wasn’t that long ago that they were in first place overall, but they have managed just 4 wins in the last 10 games and have fallen to 4th place in the Southern Conference. London outshot Bratislava 35-32, but their young forwards like Tyler Seguin (6 shots) and Taylor Hall (4) couldn’t beat Bachman. Two of Bratislava’s younger forwards – Tyler Ennis and Jonathan Toews – each had 5 shots in the game, with Toews getting 2 assists and Ennis 1.