Berlin 5, Frankfurt 1 – The Berlin Smurfs played a very aggressive and active game against Frankfurt Thursday and the Inferno could never really get into it. Berlin outshot Frankfurt 51-26, out-hit them 30-18 and when Logan Couture scored a shorthanded goal in the second period to make it 3-1, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Smurfs would hit 102 points in the standings. They are now third overall and second in the Southern Conference. David Krejci and Patric Hornqvist each scored 2 points in the game for Berlin. Frankfurt star Steven Stamkos picked up an assist in the game and he now has 99 points to lead the league in scoring by three points over Ryan Kesler of Dublin. Stamkos won the scoring title in Season 1 and Kesler won it in Season 2. Evgeny Malkin of Paris was last season’s scoring champ. The Inferno still the team with the best chance of catching Geneva for the 8th and final playoff spot in the South, but the loss leaves then 2 points behind with 6 games to play. The Zurich Lions might decide the Geneva-Frankfurt race. Geneva plays Zurich three times over the final 6 Generals games. The Schloder Division rivals have three times already with Zurich winning twice.

Bern 4, Geneva 3 – The Bears won in a four-round shootout. It was a game between two Swiss teams that could have used that extra point in the standings. Mika Zibanejad beat Geneva’s Ondrej Pavelec in the fourth round and then Bear goalie Mike Smith stopped Dennis Wideman’s attempt to tie it. The game was close throughout. Geneva got a Marian Gaborik goal (his 18th of the season) in the first period, but Bern scored twice in the second (Pascal Dupuis and Leo Komarov) before David Desharnais scored his 13th to tie it. In the third period, Dupuis scored again to give him 14 on the season. But Rickard Wallin knotted the game again with 13 minutes remaining, taking a Mike Fisher pass and converting it into his 16th goal of the season. Fisher had 2 assists, 3 hits and 4 blocked shots for Geneva, but he wasn’t good on faceoffs. Dupuis led everyone in shots with 7 and his two goals came at big times for Bern. The Bears are now the 9th best team in the EURO and in 4th place in the Southern Conference, although Bratislava and Zurich continue to crowd them. Geneva is hanging on to the 8th place spot in the South with Frankfurt breathing down their neck.

Belfast 3, St. Petersburg 1 – If Jonathan Quick continues to play the way he did Thursday, the Giants will be making some playoff noise. The goalie made 41 saves, including 21 in the third period to steal a game from the Red Stars. After a scoreless first period, Olive Ekman-Larsson and Cody Hodgson put the Giants up 2-0. Early in the third period Devante Smith-Pelly scored only his 3rd of the season to cut the lead in half, but Nathan MacKinnon scored with 11:09 left to give Quick a two-goal cushion. Brad Richards had 6 shots on Quick and Artem Anisimov had 5 for St. Petersburg.

Moscow 6, Madrid 1 – Spartak was too powerful in the first two periods, outshooting Madrid 16-4 and then 15-4. Moscow scored four times in the first period and one more in the second to carry a 5-1 lead into the last period. Five Moscow players finished the game plus 3, including the first star, defenseman Anton Stralman who ended with a goal and an assist. Jannik Hansen had 3 assists. Defending champion Moscow is ranked first in the league with 4 games to play. Madrid seems safely in the playoffs in 7th place in the Southern Conference, but they have won just 3 of their last 10 games.

Edinburgh 3, Munich 0 – The Capitals were ready to play Thursday, but the same cannot be said of the host team in Munich. Edinburgh outshot Munich 50-16. They peppered Dire Wolf goalie Cory Schneider with 21 shots in the first period but couldn’t score until the middle of the second period, when Tony Martensson broke the ice and Andrei Kostitsyn added some insurance. With 6 minutes left in the game, Patrick O’Sullivan scored his first goal of the season to make it 3-0 Edinburgh. Kostitsyn and Braydon Coburn each had 2 points.

Injury update: Teams gearing up for the playoffs fear injuries at this time of the season and there are a few to report that might impact the standings.The worst injury was suffered by Jordan Staal of Madrid. He will likely miss the playoffs entirely with a knee injury. Staal, who has 24 goals and 55 points for the Royals, was injured Feb. 27 on his first shift in a 6-2 loss to Helsinki. Zack Smith collided with him near center ice and Staal went down in pain. No penalty was called on the play. Duncan Keith of Moscow plays top minutes and has 60 points from his defense position, but he will sit out a few games with an upper body injury. Kyle Quincey takes his place in the lineup. Season 4 has been a breakout year for Prague’s Andrey Bykov, but the 22-year-old’s season will end with him scoring 26 goals. A foot injury will keep him out of the lineup as the Siamese Cats make a frantic last-ditch attempt to reach the playoffs. Zurich’s Tyson Barrie sustained a rib injury and might miss the rest of the regular season. Barrie is plus 13 this season and the Lions are trying to catch Bratislava and Bern in the middle of the Southern Conference playoff pack. Bratislava will be without Kyle Brodziak, who is having a down year with 11 goals and 26 points. Patrick Kaleta will replace him and get fourth-line duty. Edinburgh’s Fedor Tyutin, acquried in a trade with Madrid, was hurt Thursday and will sit out some games.