Paris 7, Prague 5
Les Paris Rouges Eiffels and Prague Sparta were tied 3-3 when the third period started in Prague Monday, and then Sparta went on top when Dmitri Kulikov faked a slapshot, went around a sliding defender and then ripped a shot past Tuukka Rask. But Prague took too many penalties and Paris made them pay by scoring their third and fourth powerplay goals of the game at the beginning of a four-goal outburst. Evgeni Malkin and Corey Perry each scored 3 points in the win and Alexander Semin, Joffrey Lupul and David Perron each scored two goals. For Prague, Saku Koivu, Erik Nystrom, Ryan Getzlaf and Kulikov all had 2 points and defensemen Eric Brewer and John-Michael Liles each blocked 3 shots.
Madrid 2, Munich 0
Fans in Madrid were treated to a shutout win, the first goals of the season by stars Gabriel Landeskog and Jordan Staal and the league’s first fight of the EURO season. Both scoring plays were started by Madrid’s two offensive blueliners, Erik Karlsson and Mark Streit. Tomas Vokoun earned the shutout with 25 saves, but Jon Quick was the much busier of the goalies, making 43 saves in the Munich net. About 14 minutes into the game, Paul Gaustad of Munich was forechecking in the Madrid end and started a shoving match in the slot with Roman Polak of the Royals. It quickly escalated into a full-fledged fight that most observers had as a draw. Madrid now moves to 2-2 while the Fox record stands at 1-2-1. Michal Handzus, the 35-year-old Slovakian center who played in all 82 games for Moscow last season, scoring 19 goals and 44 points, has been unable able to crack the Madrid lineup and has been waived. Joe Pavelski, Staal, Sean Couturier and Maxim Lapierre are ahead of Handzus on the depth chart. Handzus earns a $2.5 million salary.
Helsinki 3, Belfast 1
The combination of taking too many penalties and Henrik Lundqvist is rarely the recipe for a win. Belfast didn’t defy any odds on Monday. They gave the Jokerit powerplay units 10 chances to score and the Helsinki took advantage of them twice on goals by Jarret Stoll and Dainius Zubrus, their 4th and 3rd of the season respectively. Nick Spaling scored the other Helsinki goal. Lundqvist, meanwhile looked balanced and steady, turning aside 25 of Belfast’s 26 shots. The only one that got past him came off the stick of Lars Eller, his first of the year. Belfast played most of the game without young defenseman Adam Larsson, who fell awkwardly coming off the bench on a line change and seemed to hurt his hip. Helsinki and Bern are the only undefeated teams int he EURO League, both sporting 4-0 records.
Milan 3, Zurich 2
The Guerriero won their third straight game, outshooting Zurich 47-16 in the process. But despite the huge gap in shots, Zurich was still able to eek out a point thanks to Drew Stafford, who scored on both of the shots he took. It took an overtime goal by Dustin Brown, his 3rd of the season, to decided a winner. All five goals came while one team had a man advantage. Brown and Matt Moulson scored powerplay goals for Milan, while their teammate, Ryan Callahan scored while his team was shorthanded. Stafford’s tallies were both powerplay goals.
Dublin 4, Athens 2
The Fighting Irish leave Greece with a 4-2 win under their belts. Athens outshot Dublin 32-29, but the Greeks took 9 penalties – three by rookie Staffan Kronwall – to Dublin’s 3. Athens defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky scored his 4th of the year in the first period and it was the game’s lone goal until the final minute of the second period, when Ryan Kesler beat greek goalie Corey Crawford. Evander Kane, Bobby Ryan and veteran Jason Arnott scored for Dublin in the third as they pulled away.
Oslo 6, Gothenburg 3
Oslo came out of the starting blocks slowly, being outshot by the visiting team 12-3 in the first period, but they righted the ship during the intermission and reeled off 15 shots in each of the next two periods. Danny Briere and Pavel Datsyuk accounted for 12 of their team’s shots and scored 2 and 3 points respectively. Gothenburg led 2-0 after a period, thanks to goals by Carl Hagelin and Teemu Selanne, but the Outlaws scored 6 in a row to put the result beyond doubt. The Oslo defense pairing of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter played their usual great game, combining for 3 points, 4 blocked shots and 8 hits.
