Copenhagen 3, Belfast 1
Kevin Dallman scored his first EURO League goal and added an assist, Jonas Hiller out-dueled Ondrej Pavelec in goal, and the Giants took 11 penalties. The result was the Tridents’ 11th win in 13 games this season.
If you were to look over the team statistics pages for the EURO League without looking at the standings,
you would probably guess that Copenhagen would be very close to the top. And they are, in
fact, in first place through 13 games of the season.
Here are some of the stats that show why they are at the top:
- 3rd in goals scored
- 2nd in fewest goals allowed
- 4th in powerplay percentage
- 4th in penalty killing
- 1st in shots per game
- 1st in fewest shots allowed
- 2nd in fewest penalty minutes per game
Up front, they have three effective lines. Stephen Weiss, Dany Heatley and Andrew Ladd have the most
ice time and the most points, but you have to skip down to the third line of Brandon Sutter, Tomas
Fleischmann and Troy Brouwer to find the three best plus-minus players in Copenhagen.
On defense, they have good two-way players everywhere you look. Rookie Kevin Dallman has stepped
in and simply excelled. The 25-year-old was born in Niagara Falls, Ont., and has some NHL experience,
having played 154 games for Boston, St. Louis and Los Angeles. He was the Tridents’ first of three draft
picks in the off season and today he leads the team in hits with 32 and blocked shots with
21. Although it’s early in the season still, Dallman is making a strong argument to be bumped up to
the first pairing with Kevin Shattenkirk. The Season 1 all-star Shattenkirk is currently partners with
Alex Goligoski, who is just about the only Trident having a sub-par season. In 11 games, Goligoski has 3
points, a minus 5 rating and he has given away the puck twice as many times as he has taken it from an
opponent. Chances are Goligoski will turn it around. Last season, he was a plus 23 in 82 games of the
regular season for the Tridents, scoring 13 goals and 38 points with more takeaways than giveaways.
In goal, Copenhagen has one of the league’s best in Roberto Luongo. The former Islander, Panther
and Canuck is third in the EURO in goals against, but his real value was evident during the playoffs last
season when he was hurt. Copenhagen and Jonas Hiller were able to barely survive while Luongo was
out, and when he returned, Copenhagen stormed into the Cup Finals against the Generals.
On Thursday against Belfast, Luongo had the day off and Hiller filled in, making 30 saves to earn the win. Pavelec of Belfast stopped 39 shots in a losing effort. Both goalies got help from a couple of their teammates. Dallman and Heatley each blocked 4 shots, while Giant P.K. Subban blocked 5 and teammate Pavel Kubina blocked 3. Olivier Roland scored the Giants’ lone goal.
Paris 3, Geneva 2 (OT) – With just seconds left and a shootout seemingly inevitable, Evgeni Malkin picked up an errant puck and made a highlight reel play to score the game winner in overtime. With just one defenseman on the ice for Geneva in the four-on-four, Malkin went through forward Mike Fisher and then beat goalie Kari Lehtonen through the five hole with 8 seconds on the clock. It was Paris’ fifth straight win. Russians scored all of Paris’ goals against the champs, as Malkin tallied his 8th and 9th of the season and Alexander Semin notched his 8th. Tuuka Rask made 33 saves for the winners, while Lehtonen made 30 saves. Marian Gaborik had two assists for Geneva.
London 2, Edinburgh 1 – Edinburgh outshot London 33-20 but lost in a battle of Ahearne Division rivals. Marek Zidlicky got London on the scoreboard first with his first goal of the year about 9 minutes into play. But the Capitals evened it up 1-1 on an Oliver Ekman-Larsson goal before Brendan Morrow scored what turned out to be the winner with just 18 seconds remaining in the second period. The third period seemed as if it was being played in one of Scotland’s bogs, with Caps only able to muster 4 shots.
Berlin 4, Prague 3 (OT – SO) – Matt Read scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Smurfs a win in the Czech Republic. Jiri Tlusty, a Berlin forward who grew up about 10 miles from the rink in a town called Slany, scored two big goals for the Smurfs in the third period to erase a 3-1 deficit and force the game into overtime. Ladislav Smid, a Czech from Frydlant, which is closer to the Polish border, assisted on both Tlusty goals. Prague’s Bryan Little scored his 11th and continues to lead the league in goal scoring, while young Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice Thursday and is now third on the Sparta team with 7 goals.
Frankfurt 3, Oslo 2 – A spirited game in Oslo went Frankfurt’s way thanks in large part to the work of rookie goaltender Jan Laco. The visitors from Germany looked up late in the second period and saw that Laco had kept the game scoreless and perhaps that inspired superstar Steven Stamkos. The reigning scoring champ rocketed a shot past Jimmy Howard with just 21 seconds left in the second to break the scoreless tie. Midway through the third period he set up Claude Giroux for a goal and then Inferno defenseman Sami Lepisto scored and it was 3-0. Oslo tried to come back and scored two on Laco – P-A Parenteau and Ryan Suter scored – but it was too little too late. His 22-save effort gave Laco his first win in five decisions. The game featured a lot of hitting, with Shane O’Brien doing most of the work for Frankfurt and Shea Weber countering for Oslo, and it even featured a fight between forwards Jake Dowell of Oslo and Joey Crabb of the Inferno.
Bern 3, Helsinki 2 – The Bears scored a goal in every period and Radim Vrbata’s 5th of the season in the third was the deciding tally. Adrian Aucoin and Mike Cammalleri each had a goal and an assist for Bern, who are now 6-6-1 and in 16th place overall. Nick Spaling and Jack Johnson scored the Helsinki goals, but the Jokerit were thoroughly outplayed and were outshot 33-18 by the home team in Switzerland. Jarrett Stoll played very well for Helsinki, recording an assist, 3 hits, 3 blocked shots and he was 17 of 24 on faceoffs.
