Athens 4, Paris 3
The Athens Greeks meant business when Monday’s game in Paris began and captain David Backes led the charge. Eighteen shots poured in on Paris goalie Jose Theodore in the first period and by the time that period was over, it was 4-0 Greeks. After Erik Condra opened the scoring, Backes followed with a natural hat trick with powerplay linemates Jason Pominville and T.J. Oshie getting two assists each. Dave Perron scored twice in the second period to get Paris back into it, but goalie Corey Crawford took control of the game from that point, ending with 42 saves and the win. Backes, the 28-year-old power forward from the USA, has quietly become an elite player in the EURO league. Only four players have scored more goals than he has in league history – which consists of a season and about 15 games. His hat trick on Monday gives him 50 goals for a career, putting him behind only Steven Stamkos (64), Eric Staal (57), Evgeni Malkin (53 including the one he scored with 2 seconds left on Monday) and Joe Pavelski (52). Backes also leads all forwards in hits all-time. Only he and Brooks Laich of Munich have more than 200 hits in their career – Backes with 225 and Laich with 202. As good as Backes is, he might not be the first-string center in Athens for many more years. The Greeks have Ryan O’Reilly and talented rookie Vadim Shipachyov behind Backes on the depth chart and both are considered to have better long-term value. Athens is currently 7-7-1 and tied for 7th place in the very tight Southern Conference. Last season, the Greeks finished 20th, 9 points behind 19th place Paris, but jumped up to the top draft position thanks to a lottery. They used it to grab hard-hitting defenseman Staffan Kronwall, who has played in every game this season.
Prague 6, Berlin 2 – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who centers Prague’s third line as well as the second powerplay unit, scored two goals against the Smurfs and now has equaled his goal total from his rookie season. Nugent-Hopkins has 9 goals and 2 assists this season. He had 9 goals and 27 assists last year. Austrian Thomas Vanek and Michael Ryder each had 3 points in the game and Prague outshot the Smurfs 35-21 including 13-4 in the third period. Ray Whitney and Josh Holden scored Berlin’s goals to give the home fans a little to cheer about.
Frankfurt 5, Munich 4 – Milan Hejduk tied the game and sent it into overtime for Munich, but it was the other German team that turned it up a notch in the extra session. Frankfurt had 7 shots in overtime before Drew Doughty got the puck to Steven Stamkos who ended it with 14 seconds left. Doughty and Claude Giroux led everyone in scoring with 3 points each.
Gothenburg 5, Edinburgh 2 – A shorthanded goal by Carl Hagelin early in the third period was a tie-breaker and a back-breaker for his Gothenburg Devils. The goal was his 9th of the season. Defenseman Dan Girardi assisted on the goal and then 11 minutes later fed the puck over to partner Stephane Robidas who blistered a goal for his first of the year to make it 4-2. Shots were pretty even at 33-31 in favor of the Devils. Wayne Simmonds and Francois Beauchemin scored for the Capitals.
Oslo 3, Stockholm 2 – Oslo is now 10-4-1 and tied for second place overall after a one-goal win in Stockholm. The Outlaws outshot the host team 33-19 but had to go to overtime to win it. Swedish defenseman David Petrasek assisted on all 3 Outlaw goals. Daniel Sedin notched his 4th goal of the season in the first period to make it 1-0, but Stockholm came back to take the lead later in the period on goals by Shane Doan and Mikko Koivu. The Spartans held the lead until Pavel Datsyuk scored with 6:45 to play and Mikhail Grabovski was the overtime hero when he scored his 8th of the season. Mark Giordano of Stockholm had a noteworthy game, being credited with 5 hits and 2 blocked shots.
Dublin 4, Copenhagen 2 – Copenhagen seemed to downshift after the first period and Dublin pulled away from them. The Tridents got off 9 shots in the first period and led 1-0, but they were held to just 2 shots in the second and 9 in the third. The Fighting Irish, meanwhile, had 28 shots and four goals over the final two periods. Dublin’s Petr Sykora and Cody Franson each scored his first goal of the season and Evander Kane his 8th before Ryan Kesler added an empty-netter for his 9th. Both teams had played the night before and had their backup goalies in net. Copenhagen’s Stephen Weiss had a goal, 5 blocked shots and 2 hits.
