Wednesday’s games
Dublin 4, Minsk 3 (shootout) – The Fighting Irish were outshot 45-22 in Minsk, but they came away with the 2 points after a four-round shootout. In a battle of backup goalies, it was Jonathan Bernier out-dueling Russian Anton Khudobin. Bernier made 42 saves and stopped Gustav Nyquist on the final shot of the shootout. Dublin’s James Van Riemsdyk, Jakub Silfverberg and Hampus Lindholm scored the team’s goals in regulation time and it was the first of the season for each of them. Thomas Powell, Patrick Kane and Aaron Ekblad scored for Minsk and it was the third of the season for each of them. Dublin (8-5-0) is in third place in the Northern Conference, while Minsk (5-7-1) is in 8th. The Irish are doing better on the road than they are at home this season. In Ireland, they are 3-3, but they are 5-2 elsewhere.
Lisbon 6, Munich 3 – The woes continue for the Dire Wolf, who lost their 9th straight Wednesday. Lisbon came out strong and scored 4 goals in the first period on 11 shots. John Tavares and Alexei Kalyuzhny each had 2 assists for Lisbon, while teammates Nick Bjugstad, Brandon Bochenski and Alex Steen each had a goal and an assist. Munich’s Tomas Fleischmann and Henrik Sedin combined for 11 shots on goal, but they finished minus 3 along with linemate Josh Bailey. Munich’s last win was a one-goal win in Bratislava, where they will return on Sunday. But before then, they will host Stockholm and attempt to stop the losing streak.
Bratislava 6, Copenhagen 3 – With their team trailing 3-0 midway through the game, Copenhagen’s Slava Voynov and rookie Simon Hjalmarsson took undisciplined penalties on the same play and Bratislava was soon up 5-0 to put the score out of reach. Tyler Ennis scored the 4th and 5th goals for Bratislava and his center, Jonathan Toews, also scored two goals. Ennis now has 8 goals and Toews has 3. The 22-year-old Hjalmarsson, who was taken 20th overall in the last draft, has made a good impression in his first 4 games as a Trident. He has 3 goals, 5 hits and is plus 3 while pulling fourth-line duty at 5 minutes per game.
Moscow 6, Oslo 2 – Moscow out-shot the Outlaws 44-15 in a game that was 2-2 as the second period began. Blake Wheeler scored a hat trick for Spartak and he now shares the league lead in goals with Eric Staal of Gothenburg. Both have 9 and they were teammates in Gothenburg last season. Canadian rookie Cale Tanaka charged the front of the Oslo net as Marc-Andre Bourdon’s slapshot went off goalie Semyon Varlamov’s pad and Tanaka quickly fired it in for his first EURO goal. Captain Andrew Ladd picked up 3 assists and he shares the team lead in scoring with Max Pacioretty.
Belfast 5, Gothenburg 2 – The shot total was lopsided at 43-21, and so was the score at 5-2. The odd thing is the team with fewer shots won it. On the road. Credit Jonathan Quick for the Belfast win as the elite goalie made 41 saves and was able to – along with Belfast’s penalty killers – keep Gothenburg from scoring on any of their 6 powerplay chances. Nazem Kadri made a difference too. He had 7 shots on the Devils’ net and scored twice. Kadri, a second-line player, is now tied for the team scoring lead with top-liners Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Mark Fraser got into two fights in the game for Gothenburg. Two members of the Giants defense corps will be out of the next game or two. P.K. Subban has a minor leg injury and Victor Hedman has the flu. One or both will miss their game with their Irish rival Dublin on Friday.
London 3, Bern 0 – London’s two goalies have been playing extremely well this season and Michal Neuvirth posted his first shutout of the year in Bern. The 27-year-old Czech who played a season in Athens and one in Stockholm before joining the Dons this season has a save percentage of 94.3 and a goals against of 1.62. He plays behind Martin Jones, a rookie whose 91.1 save percentage ranks him sixth in the league among starting goalies. Neuvirth’s 29-save performance in Bern might not have resulted in a win if not for Sam Gagner, who scored a powerplay goal in the second and another one in the third period. London is currently in fourth place in the Northern Conference, while Bern is in 11th place in the South.
