Copenhagen 4, London 0
Roberto Luongo was on his game Monday shutting out the Knights. Lou stopped close-in shots like some of the 12 Tyler Bozak and Jeff Skinner took, and long shots like the 5 that Derek Morris fired at him, and everything in between. In all, Luongo stopped 31 London shots. It was his fourth shutout of the season and he remains at the top of the league leaders list in save percentage at .924. After a scoreless first period, Copenhagen got on the scoreboard as Stephen Weiss twirled to avoid defenseman Luca Sbisa and fired a wrist shot to beat London goalie Semyon Varlamov, who made 29 saves. Also scoring for the Tridents were Troy Brouwer, Andrej Meszaros and Dany Heatley. The game was nearly penalty-free, with only two minors – both to London – being called by referees Sigurd Grondahl of Denmark and Ed Light of Great Britain. Copenhagen all-star defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk blocked 4 shots in 23 minutes of ice time. Copenhagen is in second place in the Northern Conference while London is in fifth.
Madrid 4, Moscow 1
Penalties were a big problem for the Dynamo on Monday, as they played shorthanded for six minutes of the first period and eight of the second. Madrid managed just one powerplay goal in 9 chances, a one-timer by Jeff Carter, but they were able to score three more times at even strength to coast to a victory. Anze Kopitar scored nearly midway through the final period, but by then, Madrid already had four goals on the board courtesy of Carter, Joe Pavelski, Gabriel Landeskog and Jordan Staal. Tomas Vokoun stopped 14 of 15 Moscow shots, while the Dynamo’s Jaro Halak stopped 35 of 39 Madrid shots. Filip Kuba, a Moscow all-star defenseman, was minus 2, but he dished out 6 hits and blocked 4 shots. Madrid has not had too much trouble scoring all season. They are currently the third most potent team in the EURO League with 3.92 goals per game. Only Prague (3.98) and Geneva (4.11) are ahead of them. The Royals have three 20-goal scorers already in Pavelski (34), Carter (23) and Alex Tanguay (20) with Staal (19) and Landeskog (17) approaching that plateau.
Berlin 3, Munich 1
Josh Bailey got the visiting Munich Fox off on the right foot against their German and Schloder Division rival with a first-period goal, but their lead was short-lived. Dan Boyle, who assisted on the goal, took a high sticking penalty about 30 seconds after the goal and about 30 seconds into the ensuing powerplay Munich’s Brian Campbell blasted one past Jonathan Quick to knot the score. From that point on, Mika Kiprusoff was solid in the Smurf goal and 20,000 home fans helped keep their skaters’ legs moving. Berlin outshot Munich 30-12 over the final two periods and Logan Couture scored two second period goals to give him 22 for the season. Munich’s Joe Corvo played well with 3 hits and 3 blocked shots, but his team was foiled by the refs’ whistles and 13 Smurf powerplays. Steve Downie of Munich was called for a major penalty and two minors.
Stockholm 5, Frankfurt 2
The Swedish home team dominated play, outshooting Frankfurt 41-16 and outscoring them 5-2. Eric Staal scored 2 goals and added an assist, while Jordan Leopold and Loui Eriksson each had 3 assists. The offensive attack was pretty balanced, with 6 Spartans firing either 4 or 5 shots on Inferno goalie Ondrej Pavelec. Steven Stamkos and Alexander Steen scored for Frankfurt. Stamkos is fourth in goal scoring in the league, but he has overtaken Jason Spezza as the EURO’s top scorer. The dynamic Frankfurt star has 31 goals, 44 assists and 75 points in 49 games, putting him a point ahead of Spezza.
Bern 6, Paris 2
The Bears were too much for Les Rouges Eiffels in the third period, scoring 4 times to break a 2-2 tie. Paris had a 2-1 lead after a period, thanks to goals by Alexander Semin and Mike Ribeiro, but Pascal Dupuis tied the game with the second period’s only goal. Mike Cammalleri’s goal 3:35 into the third period began a string of 4 unanswered goals and held up as the game winner. The Bern defense pairing of Ron Hainsey and Adrian Aucoin was plus 5. Bern held Paris star Evgeny Malkin to one shot and no points in 29 minutes of ice time.
St. Petersburg 5, Geneva 0
The Lynx asked veteran Marty Turco to guard their net Monday – against the league’s highest scoring team in their own building – and he responded with a 25-save shutout. Turco, the Lynx’ backup to Pekka Rinne, has only played in 6 games this season but has been able to stay in a groove somehow. His goals against average is 2.11 and his save percentage is .922. The shutout in Geneva was his first blanking of the year. St. Petersburg has been simply sick over the last 20 games. They have won 10 straight and are 18-2 in the months of December and January. Both of those losses (to Copenhagen and Oslo) were by a single goal and the Oslo game went to a shootout. In Geneva, David Legwand had a goal and an assist, was a plus 2 with 2 blocked shots and he won 14 of 26 faceoffs. Blake Wheeler scored two goals and Brent Burns had two assists and was a plus 3 with defense partner Kevin Bieksa.
