Edinburgh dominates on Copenhagen ice
Copenhagen leads Edinburgh in series, 3-2
With a seemingly healthy Jamie Benn still out of the Edinburgh lineup, Daniel Winnick played very well in his stead. The physical winger was named the game’s second star after playing plus-2 hockey and scoring a shorthanded goal to open the scoring about 4 minutes into the game. Edinburgh’s Karl Alzner, a young defenseman, was the first star after scoring his first playoff goal and going plus-2 over 15 minutes of ice time. The game wasn’t as close as the 3-1 score would indicate. Edinburgh outshot the home team 40-18 and by at least 6 shots every period. Copenhagen’s Ville Peltonen crashed into the boards in the third period and was in serious pain. His season is over. Copenhagen will have to go to the farm team to replace him on the third line. Colin Greening will probably be moved up from the fourth line with a center like Drew Shore or Gregory Campbell being inserted into the lineup. Peltonen had 5 goals and 5 assists through 10 playoff games.
St. Petersburg overtakes Moscow in third period
St. Petersburg leads Moscow in series, 3-2
St. Petersburg won 4-3 on home ice to take a one-game lead in a very tough series. The Red Stars’ skating was turned up a notch Tuesday and it resulted in a 48-26 shots advantage in front of the 17,111 home crowd. Still, Moscow goalie Jaro Halak kept it close. In fact, Moscow led 2-0 and 3-1 during the first half of the game, getting goals from Jason Garrison (his 2nd of the playoffs), Anze Kopitar (5th) and Anton Stralman (2nd). There were only three minor penalties called in the game and all 7 goals came 5-on-5. St. Petersburg had 10 players contribute to the score sheet with points and only Erik Cole had more than one (1 goal, 1 assist and 7 shots). The Red Stars caught up to Moscow early in the third period when Yaroslavl-born Artem Anisimov scored his 5th of the playoffs and they went ahead with 4:31 to play on Marc-Eduoard Vlasic’s first goal of the playoffs.
Big goals by Palmieri, Hartnell put Greeks up 3-1
Athens leads Munich in series, 3-1
This series has been close since it started and Athens won for the third time when Scott Hartnell buried a rebound of a David Backes shot early in overtime. It was Hartnell’s second goal of the game and Backes was hit as he shot it. The big star suffered an upper body injury and will miss the rest of the series. Munich took the lead three times in the game, with Athens tying it each time. The biggest goal in regulation time came in the last minute, when Athens coach John Tortorella played a hunch and put the third line out there to try to get the equalizer. In the previous 9 playoffs games, the line of Marcus Kruger, Kyle Palmieri and Erik Condra managed just one goal. But the line forechecked hard in the Fox zone and Palmieri shot from the slot and scored to send the game into overtime. For Munich, each member of the top line (Joe Thornton, Patrik Elias and Milan Hejduk) scored a goal and had 2 assists. Both teams were 1 for 4 on the powerplay. It was the first time the home team won in this series. The teams return to Bavaria for Game 5 tonight.
Lehtonen shuts out Paris 3-0
Paris leads Geneva in series, 3-1
After weathering an intense Paris attack in the first period, the defending champs took control of the game and handed the Eiffels their first loss of the post season. Kari Lehtonen stopped 26 Paris shots and earned a shutout. Seventeen of those shots came in the first period, with Paris outshooting Geneva 17-7. But the Generals scored two powerplay goals in that frame. Over the next two periods, Geneva was in command, outshooting the French team 10-4 and 17-6. Thomas Vanek opened the scoring with his 3rd of the playoffs and Marian Gaborik added his 4th 18 seconds later. Both goals came while Corey Perry of Paris was in the penalty box serving a 5-minute major for checking from behind. After a scoreless second period, Darren Helm added an extra insurance goal early in the third period. Paris took 9 penalties in the game; Geneva only 2. Paris’ Evgeny Malkin played a strong game, blocking 4 shots, getting off 4 of his own, and winning 14 of 21 faceoffs.
