Edinburgh 4, Moscow 0
The Edinburgh Capitals found a way to shut down the Moscow center and left wing who have been terrorizing the league of late. What? Who are Kopitar and Ovechkin? We’re talking about Benoit Pouliot and Marcus Johansson. Coming into Friday’s game – and now since Moscow was shutout – those two have made a more potent pairing than their higher-priced, higher-profile teammates. Pouliot leads the team in scoring with 8 points and Johansson has 5. Kopitar and Ovechkin have 5 each, but they have averaged 26 and 22 minutes of ice time per game compared to the two fourth liners who average just 7 minutes. Travis Moen, who has 3 points, completes the line. But on Friday, the Spartak team which has won all 4 of its home games, lost its second away game in as many tries. Ilya Bryzgalov, a Russian, blanked Moscow but stopping all 32 of their shots. John Tavares, who is off to a good start for Edinburgh, scored two of their goals, with James Neal and Brandon Dubinsky scoring very late in the game. Tavares already has 7 goals this season, putting him one goal behind league leader Bryan Little of Prague. Edinburgh’s penalty killers got a real working but they were perfect, stopping Moscow on 12 powerplay opportunities. The Caps powerplay was 1 for 7. Ovechkin was injured in the game and will sit next to defenseman Duncan Keith in the press box for a few games until both are healed.
Berlin 3, Milan 1
There must have been a very hot babe sitting next to the Milan penalty box Friday. The Guerriero made 17 trips there to leave their team shorthanded for more than half the game. Nine players were whistled for various infractions, with Dustin Byfuglien leading the way with 11 minutes. Mikael Boedker played 1 minute on the ice and thanks to his check from behind, sat in the box for 5 minutes. Even Henrik Sedin spent 6 minutes in the sin bin after committing three infractions. The main beneficiary of it all was Matt Read, the Smurf forward who scored his second and third goals of the year, both on the powerplay. David Krejci also scored a powerplay goal for Berlin.
Prague 7, Frankfurt 2
Three Prague Sparta players scored 2 goals apiece and they blew the game open in the second period with 3 unanswered goals. Getting two goals each were Eric Nystrom, Bryan Little and Zach Parise. Little, Parise and their linemate Ryan Getzlaf all ended with 4 points. Teammate Tom Gilbert played well, getting credited with 5 hits and 3 blocked shots. For Frankfurt, Claude Giroux and Steven Stamkos each scored 2 points. Prague picked up another player on Friday in 24-year-old goalie Steve Mason, who was waived by Copenhagen and who played 25 games for Helsinki last season, with a save percentage of 87.9. Mason will be paid $2.9 million during the final year of his Type 2 contract. Sparta had been going with 18-year-old Niko Hovinen as Ryan Miller’s only backup.
Belfast 3, St. Petersburg 0
Cory Schneider showed why he was voted a Northern Conference all-star last season by shutting out St. Petersburg with 33 saves. For the second season in a row, Petrograd has started slowly. Regular season champions of the conference last year, they are currently 2-3-1 and in 8th place. Belfast is a point better right now at 3-3. Tony Martensson, the game’s second star, scored for Belfast along with Rick Nash and Jaromir Jagr, with Martensson also picking up an assist.
Madrid 3, Athens 2 (OT)
Madrid fans were nervous throughout the game even though their team was skating to a commanding 42-17 shots advantage. It looked for a while that goalie Michal Neuvirth and the Greeks were going to steal a sure victory from them. Goals in regulation time came from Jeff Carter and Joe Pavelski for Madrid, and from David Backes and Scott Hartnell for Athens. The Pavelski goal tied the score at 2-2 in the second and that’s how it stayed until late in overtime, when Pavelski picked up his third point of the game by stealing the puck at the Madrid blueline, turning and skating in on a 2-on-1 with Gabriel Landeskog, who took a pass and scored his second of the season to win it.
Geneva 8, Stockholm 4
The champs benefited from a string of six straight Stockholm penalties in the first and second periods to score 4 powerplay goals and build an 8-2 lead. Patrick Marleau of Geneva was the first star, scoring 2 goals on 8 shots and adding one assist. David Desharnais and Marian Gaborik also scored 3 points each for the Generals. Stockholm was led by Eric Staal and Loui Ericsson, who each fired 7 shots on goal and scored 2 points. Cam Ward had one of his worst games ever, letting in 8 and being pulled for the third period.
