Seven different Eagles scored in Bratislava to help even the Czechoslovakia series at 2-2 on a night that saw Geneva become the first team to advance to the second round of the EURO playoffs.
In the Czech series, Prague was playing without injured center Ryan Getzlaf for the first time and it showed. Getzlaf had scored 5 goals in the first three games of the series. On Sunday, the Spartans could get little going offensively, but were much worse when Bratislava had the puck. The Eagles outshot Prague 40-20, with Paul Martin accounting for 5 shots and the line of Jonathan Toews, Tyler Ennis and Marian Hossa accounting for 11 in 17 minutes of ice time. Each of those three forwards ended with 3 points on the evening. Martin scored a shorthanded goal to start the scoring in the first period. Prague defenseman Eric Brewer played well with 5 hits and a plus 2 rating, but fellow blue-liners John Michael Liles (minus 5) and Brett Clark (minus 4), and goalie Ryan Miller all had games they would like to forget. The series will move back to Prague on Monday.
Geneva 3, Berlin 1
Mike Fisher and Kari Lehtonen are calling each other the player of the series, while most everyone else agrees both played remarkably well in helping Geneva oust Berlin in 4 straight games. Fisher averaged 3 points a game with 4 goals and 8 assists. He has centered the Generals’ second line with Teemu Selanne and Ryan Malone on his wings and those three are the only players in the league who are plus 7 or better for the playoffs thus far. Lehtonen, meanwhile, allowed just 3 goals in the 4 games while making saves at a 97.6 rate. On Sunday, Malone and Justin Williams scored in the first period, with Nick Foligno adding an empty net goal. Lehtonen made 32 saves and earned a shutout. At the other end, Mika Kiprusoff made 43 saves. After Foligno’s goal made it obvious the Smurfs were done until next year, 20,000 appreciative Berlin fans gave their team a standing ovation until the end of the game.
Munich 5, Milan 2
Germany’s last hope in the playoffs took a 3 games to 1 lead by beating the Guerriero in Italy. Milan got on the board first thanks to a goal by the game’s third star, defenseman Andrew MacDonald, but the Fox scored three straight over the next 20 minutes to take a fairly comfortable lead, given the fact they had Jonathan Quick in goal. Quick made 42 saves and ended up being named the first star. Only Patrik Elias of Munich had a multi-point game as he was credited with two assists. Steve Downie, Brooks Laich, Torey Mitchell, Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle all scored for Munich, while MacDonald and Jason Garrison, both defensemen, scored for the Guerriero. Joe Corvo of Munich had 7 hits and 3 blocked shots, while Milan’s Brooks Orpik was credited with 2 hits and 4 blocked shots.
Madrid 6, Bern 5
The Royals avoided elimination in front of the home fans by a goal. Madrid jumped in front 4-0 by the end of the first period and were up 6-4 after two before Dan Bylsma slowed the game down with a trap in the neutral zone. Bern’s Andy McDonald scored his fourth of the playoffs a little more than 3 minutes into the final period, but Bern remained one shot away from tying it the rest of the way. Still, it wasn’t tense for Madrid goalie Tomas Vokoun as one would think. Bylsma’s strategy bogged down the game and the Bears were only to get 3 other shots on net in the period. Five Madrid players scored their six goals and all five players had not scored yet in the playoffs. Gabriel Landeskog scored two goals in the first period, one of them coming while Madrid was killing off a penalty. The goal that turned out to be the game-winner came on a play late in the second period when the line of Paul Gaustad, Brian Rolston and Tomas Holmstrom were forechecking hard in front of Bern goalie J-S Giguere, who came into the game after Mike Smith allowed 3 goals on 8 shots. Rolston zipped home the puck as 4 players were battling in front of Giguere. Roman Polak had 6 hits and 3 blocked shots for the Royals, while Bern’s Kimo Timonen had 6 hits and 2 blocked shots.
On the brink
Two first-round series could end Monday and two more could end on Tuesday. In the Northern Conference, St. Petersburg holds a 3-1 series lead over London, while Cam Ward and Stockholm lead Edinburgh 3-1. In the Southern Conference Bern and Munich lead their series 3-1. All four of the series leaders will play on home ice next game.
