The remaining seven EURO League playoff series could all end in the next 24 hours. All are at 3-2 going into tonight’s Northern Conference games. The biggest news has to be the injury to Jamie Benn of Edinburgh who is out of the lineup for the rest of the series against Dublin.
Neal scores in OT for Caps
Dublin leads Edinburgh 3-2 in series
This series has been a wild scramble with lots of physical play, bushels of penalties and wide open play. Edinburgh has been on the powerplay 29 times in the series and Dublin has had the man advantage 27 times. Both teams have scored 4 powerplay goals. On Monday, a 3-3 game went into overtime and with 4:35 left in the first OT, James Neal took a far post feed from Clarke MacArthur to end it. Neal’s shot was the 87th of the game, with Dublin outshooting the winners 45-42. Red hot Milan Michalek of Dublin had the most shots, 7, and he scored on 2 of them. Michalek now has 6 goals and 10 points in 5 playoff games, good enough to place him third in the league in playoff scoring. MacArthur was the top scorer in the game with 3 points and he was named the first star. In the first period, James Wisniewski of Dublin and Edinburgh’s Benn wrestled for the puck along the boards and Benn went down. He skated to the locker room but reportedly sustained a back injury that will leave him sidelined for 1 to 2 weeks. Benn was the Capitals’ third-leading scorer during the regular season with 73 points and 234 shots on goal. He teamed with Neal and John Tavares to make up one of the most dangerous lines in the league. Edinburgh will have to win the next two games without him if they hope to advance to the second round. Daniel Winnick (40 points during the regular season) has been moved up to the first line to replace Benn, with Andrew Cogliano, a natural center, inserted into the lineup and taking the fourth-line LW position.
Five Tridents score; Luongo shines
Copenhagen leads Gothenburg 3-2 in series
The Tridents walked away with a 5-1 win on home ice Monday despite being outshot 31-27. Roberto Luongo outplayed Gburg’s Martin Brodeur in net. Five different Copenhagen players scored goals, with Dany Heatley notching his 5th of the series. All of Copenhagen’s goals came after the first period, which ended with Gothenburg up 1-0 on a Carl Hagelin goal. Stephen Weiss played a large part in the win for the Tridents. He blocked 3 shots, dished out 3 hits and won 15 of 20 faceoffs.
Rinne, Red Stars PP dominate
St. Petersburg leads Helsinki 3-2 in series
The Red Stars’ powerplay scored 4 times in 6 attempts as the host team coasted to a 6-1 win in front of 17,111 Russian fans. Six St. Petersburg players scored goals, and one of them – Jonathan Huberdeau – added 3 assists. Martin St. Louis scored his first goal of the playoffs for St. Petersburg and teammate Pekka Rinne turned in another dominant game in goal.
Ladd leads Moscow out of hole
Moscow leads Oslo 3-2 in series
With three straight wins, Moscow Spartak has dug its way out of a 2-0 hole and is poised to throw the last shovels of dirt on Oslo tonight. Andrew Ladd scored twice Monday to lead Moscow to a 4-1 win with Jaroslav Halak allowing just one Outlaw goal. Five of Oslo’s very best – Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Pavel Datsyuk, P-A Parenteau and Alexandre Burrows – were minus 2 for the game.
Munich holds on for one-goal win
Munich leads Bern 3-2 in series
Banged-up Bern is on the brink of elimination after its gutsy comeback attempt fell short Tuesday morning in Munich. Trailing 4-1 going into the third period, the Bears got a goal from Mike Cammalleri, his first of the playoffs, and then one from Andy McDonald, but they couldn’t get the equalizer past Jonathan Quick of the Fox. McDonald was named the first star after scoring 2 goals on 9 shots, as well as an assist, but as luck would have it, he suffered an injury and should miss Game 6 of the series. Team officials would not disclose the nature of injury, but it is known that McDonald sustained a concussion last month and was out for 6 days. Bern is also playing without top line center Jason Spezza, who has a lower body injury. Available to play but not at 100 percent are recent injury list members Sami Pahlsson, a center, and Tobias Enstrom, a defenseman. Pahlsson played 8 minutes on Tuesday. For Munich on Tuesday, Milan Hejduk was the top offensive player, getting 3 assists, while Patrik Elias and Joe Thornton each recorded a goal and an assist.
Desharnais goal deflates Bratislava
Geneva leads Bratislava 3-2 in series
The defending EURO Cup champions are a game away from continuing in the playoffs following a 4-2 win in Bratislava, Slovakia. Shots were even at 30-30 and the game was scoreless as the second period entered its final minute. Then Generals defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom kept the puck in the Bratislava zone with a huge effort and got it up to Chris Kunitz who then found David Desharnais in the slot. Desharnais’ change-up of a one-timer sailed over Craig Anderson’s right shoulder for the first goal of the game. It seemed to deflate the Eagles and the crowd and Geneva managed to build a 4-0 lead in the third period before Bratislava could get its offense rolling. Lidstrom and fellow Geneva defenseman Mike Weaver led their team in scoring with 2 assists each. Kyle Brodziak had 2 assists for Bratislava.
Greeks’ top line responds
Athens leads Zurich 3-2 in series
The Greeks’ top line of David Backes, Jason Pominville and Scott Hartnell responded to criticism from owner Terry Moutafis by firing 3 pucks past Zurich goalie Brian Elliott in a 5-0 win Tuesday morning. The trio drew the ire of the Athens GM (“Where is the top line?”) after Athens lost 6-5 in overtime in Game 4 on Monday. On Tuesday, the line produced 16 shots on goal and overall, Athens dominated on home ice, outshooting the Lions 44-22 with Cam Ward getting a shutout. The two Lions who had the worse game was the minus-3 defense pair of Marc Staal and Micki Dupont. Dupont was inserted into the lineup after veteran Joni Pitkanen went down with an injury earlier in the series. The good news for Zurich fans is that Pitkanen has declared himself ready for Game 6 on Wednesday morning.
