Dublin 6, Copenhagen 5 – The Fighting Irish fought back from a three-goal deficit and then a two-goal deficit to get the game to overtime and then to a shootout that they won in front of the home crowd. Copenhagen seemed to have the game in hand after Alexander Ovechkin beat Tim Thomas twice to help his team take a 3-0 first period lead. But the league’s top scorer – Ryan Kesler – and the Dublin powerplay got the Irish even at 3-3 right away. The Tridents regained momentum and took a 5-3 lead on goals by Tomas Fleischmann and Ben Smith, but in the middle of the third period, it was even again thanks to the work of Kesler and linemate Phil Kessel. In overtime, Thomas stopped Ovechkin and Fleischmann while Dublin’s Evander Kane and Kesler were able to beat Copenhagen goalie Thomas Greiss. Kesler, Kessel, Fleischmann and Copenhagen’s Stephen Weiss all had 3-point games. Also noteworthy were the 6 hits each that Dublin defensemen Nikita Nikitin and Olexander Pobyedonostsev registered.

Frankfurt 7, Geneva 4 – Steven Stamkos, Claude Giroux and Alex Steen worked well together Monday and that was bad news for Geneva. Stamkos was dangerous every time the puck was near him. He scored to goals and added 3 assists. Steen also had 3 assists and Giroux contributed with a goal and an assist. Marian Gaborik of Geneva did his best to keep pace, getting a goal and an assist for his side while firing 4 shots on goal, but the Inferno were too good for the Generals in the game, outshooting them 33-19. The worst part of the game for Frankfurt came in the third period when center Joe Thornton and Geneva’s Dennis Wideman came together against the corner boards and Thornton injured a shoulder. He is expected to be out of action for up to 2 weeks. Young Nick Bjugstad looks like he will be taking the 35-year-old Thornton’s spot on the second line, while veteran winger Ryan Clowe, who has played just 9 games this season, will try his luck at center on the fourth line.

Bern 3, Minsk 0 – Goalie Mike Smith stopped the Hussars dead in their tracks Monday, shutting them out for Bern in a game played in front of 16,585 Swiss fans. Minsk had won 2 straight and 3 of their last 4 coming into the contest. Bern’s top forward line of Henrik Zetterberg, Radim Vrbata and Jason Spezza struck two times in the first period and once more in the third to give the Bears all the offense they needed. Smith made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season. In his three and a half seasons in a Bern sweater, Smith has a 90.6 career save percentage and 2.80 goals against average. Both Minsk and Bern are currently in fourth place in their respective conferences.

Helsinki 3, Stockholm 2 – The Jokerit snuffed a late comeback attempt and edged their Scandinavian rivals in Helsinki. The shots were 30-20 in favor of the winners who held a 3-1 lead late in the third period before Ryan Johansen of Stockholm scored his 8th goal of the season to give Jokerit fans a very nerve-racking final 1:45 of regulation time.  There was a good amount of hitting in the game, and Helsinki’s Jack Johnson led the way with 7 himself, followed by Stockholm’s Kevin Bieksa (5) and Zach Bogosian (4). Johnson is sixth in the EURO in the hits department. With about 16 games remaining in the regular season, Stockholm and Helsinki lead a four-team pack of players looking for the last two playoff berths. Helsinki would be higher in the standings if they played better on the road. They have only lost 6 home games in regulation time, and that’s the best number in the Northern Conference and second best in the league behind Paris. Conversely, Stockholm is playing .500 hockey at home and they are 16-13-2 on the road.

Moscow 2, Madrid 1 – Madrid goalie Robin Lehner fought off 17 Moscow shots through the first two periods and his Royal teammates were holding on to Erik Karlsson’s second-period goal for dear life, but they couldn’t hang on long enough. Anze Kopitar tied the game in the first minute of the third period with his 20th goal of the season and then with 8:39 left to play, Aleksey Morozov deflated Madrid’s balloon with his 13th goal of the season. Meanwhile, goalie Alexander Salak was making some of his 33 saves to keep Spartak in the game. Spartak has an 8-point lead over all other Northern Conference teams and they are currently tied with Paris for first overall. Madrid is in 7th place in the Southern Conference and they are now 10 points in front of 9th place Munich to seem comfortably in a playoff position.

Berlin 5, Munich 1 – The shot total told the story in this contest as the visiting Smurfs dominated from start to finish. Berlin outshot their hosts 14-2 and 19-3 in the first two periods and ended with a 44-13 shot advantage. Munich took 5 penalties to Berlin’s one, which didn’t do much to please the home crowd. Matt Read of Berlin had more shots than anyone in the game (9) in 17 minutes of ice time and he finished as a plus 2 player. Ryan Callahan and Alexander Edler were the only players to earn more than one point. Each had a goal and an assist.