Rose said this morning, “That President’s Trophy must be pretty nice.” That’s because the 6 top teams seem to skating in a roller derby pack and each one is acting like a blocker and a jammer at the same time. Berlin tried to draft behind leading Moscow Sunday but there was Edinburgh in the way with a big elbow. And Minsk used a win over Belfast to slingshot into the lead group. Moscow, Athens, Berlin, Paris, Edinburgh and Minsk are all with 5 points of each other with roughly 7 games per team remaining.
Edinburgh 4, Berlin 2 – The Capitals shot out to a lead with two first-period goals and Berlin couldn’t get ahead of them. Rick Nash scored his 24th of the season and Brayden Coborn added one with 1:09 to play in the first. Berlin inched their way back into the game with a Matt Carle goal in the second period, but Casey Cizikas scored a few minutes later and Edinburgh regained its two-goal lead and held it into the third period. Cizikas was named the first star of the game. A fourth-liner, Cizikas scored two points and was plus 2 in just 5 minutes of ice time. Jay Bouwmeester contributed with 5 hits and 2 blocked shot for the Scots, who are now in fifth place overall. One point ahead of Edinburgh is third place Berlin, which has played two more games than any of the top 6 teams. Of the Smurfs’ remaining 5 games, two are against two other top 6 teams and both are away games. Edinburgh has a home game against top-ranked Moscow among its remaining 7 games.
Minsk 2, Belfast 0 – Minsk dealt a convincing and disappointing loss to Belfast on Sunday, outshooting the Giants 38-13. Belfast goalie Jonathan Quick was tough to beat, but Minsk did so once in the first period and once in the second, Patrik Berlund and Colin Wilson doing the honors. P.K. Subban of Belfast blocked 5 shots and delivered 3 hits in a losing cause. Nicklas Backstrom, Minsk’s top scorer, was held off the scoresheet, but he contributed with 4 shots and he was 15-3 on faceoffs. The Hussars are now in 6th place in the league and 5 points from the top spot. The have one top 6 opponent (Berlin) on their remaining schedule and three games against bottom 4 teams. Belfast, which hovered around the top of the league earlier in the season, is in 8th place in the EURO and 5th in the Northern Conference.
Athens 6, Madrid 5 – After Madrid tied the game 4-4 with two quick powerplay goals in the second period, the Greeks pulled ahead for good in the third with two big goals from Michael Ryder. Ryder now has 11 goals this season for Athens. Kyle Palmeiri also scored twice for the Greeks and he now has 19 this year. Teammates Jason Pominville and Vadim Shipachyov each had 3 assists in the game, but it was Madrid’s veteran forward Alex Tanguay who put up the best offensive numbers in the contest. Tanguay scored twice and added 2 assists. The Greeks are currently the second-best team in the league, just 2 points behind Moscow but with a game in hand. They have one game against a top 6 team and one against a bottom 6 team remaining on their schedule.
Munich 4, Paris 1 – The Rouges Eiffels seem to be struggling lately and the work of Munich second goaltender didn’t snap them out of anything. Robert Kristan stopped 35 of 36 Paris shots to earn the win for the Dire Wolf in Bavaria. Munich was outshot 36-23 but got goals from four different players, including Eric Gryba, who played 26 minutes, scored a goal and an assist and was plus 2. Chris Campoli and Ryan Wilson combined to block 9 Paris shots. Paris is now in 4th place overall and in 3rd place in the Southern Conference. They still have a game on their schedule with Moscow, but the Red Stars are the only Top 6 team on the agenda. Munich is in 11th place in the conference, three points out of the playoffs.
Prague 4, Stockholm 1 – Marcel Hossa scored two powerplay goals to lead the Siamese Cats past the Eagles. Roman Josi also scored on a Prague powerplay and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring for the Cats in the first period with his 25th of the season. Stockholm’s lone goal was scored by Olli Maatta. Prague is one of four teams fighting for the last playoff berth in the Southern Conference.
