Roy awakens; Luongo deals a shutout
Copenhagen leads Edinburgh in series, 1-0
There were some great signs for Copenhagen fans in the Tridents’ series-opening 5-0 win over visiting Edinburgh Friday. First off, goalie Roberto Luongo was as sharp as ever, stopping all 28 Capitals shots. Secondly, some forwards who haven’t been lighting the lamp cashed in against Ilya Bryzgalov. Derek Roy, who went without a goal in the first round against Gothenburg, scored twice in a span of 1:20. Teddy Purcell scored his second of the playoffs to start things off for the Danes and Alexander Ovechkin followed with his 3rd. Copenhagen killed off all 5 Edinburgh powerplays and the Tridents were 1 for 3 on PPs of their own. And three Trident defensemen were all over the defensive zone: Kevin Shattenkirk, 3 hits, 3 blocked shots; Mark Giordano, plus 3, 1 hit and 3 blocks; and Andrej Meszaros, plus 3, 2 hits and 2 blocks. For the Caps, only Wayne Simmonds seemed to make any headway, rifling 6 shots through to Luongo. Edinburgh is playing without injured Jamie Benn on the left side of the top line. Daniel Winnick has replaced him as a linemate for John Tavares and James Neal. Benn is estimated to be at about 75 percent health.
Three lines contribute to 4-2 win
St. Petersburg leads Moscow in series, 1-0
Moscow lost the first two games of their series with Oslo and then stormed back to win it, so Spartak players and managers aren’t super worried about the opening 4-2 loss in St. Petersburg. But they can’t be too happy that St. Petersburg’s scoring came from three different lines. The top line of Erik Cole, Blake Wheeler and Brad Richards clicked once, the second line got two goals from Martin St. Louis with linemates Olli Jokinen and Valterri Filppula picking up a point each, and the line of Artem Anisimov, David Legwand and Viktor Stalberg tallied late in the first period to give St. Petersburg a 2-1 lead. St. Petersburg showed tremendous discipline, being whistled for just one penalty. Pekka Rinne was good for the Red Stars, stopping 26 of 28 Moscow shots and defenseman Brent Burns left a mark with 6 hits. Moscow will be looking for better play from Duncan Keith and Jason Garrison, who were minus 3 as a unit Friday.
Tonight: Paris hosts Geneva (Malkin, Perry and Perron and crew will try to get through Fisher and Lidstrom to pressure Lehtonen) and Munich hosts Athens (Oshie, Shipachyov and Backes battle Thronton, Elias and Jon Quick)
