Gothenburg 6, Paris 2 – This is odd. Paris got blown out by Gothenburg Wednesday. The powerful Rouge Eiffels mustered just 15 shots against a Devils team that is 12th overall and now on a 4-game win streak. Gothenburg seemed to have something to prove and they floored Paris in the first period, not letting them off the canvas for a moment. The following is not a misprint: Gothenburg out-shot Paris 25-0 in the first period. We’ll give you a second to digest that …
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True, Paris spent about 8 minutes of the first period and that led to 2 of Gothenburg’s 3 goals, but when the Devils returned the favor by committing the next 4 penalties, Paris seemed powerless to do anything about it. Adam Henrique and Carl Hagelin were the most bothersome Devils of all, as each had 4 points in the game. Henrique’s points were all assists. The home team ended up outshooting Paris 45-15 and the game had an exclamation point at the end as Gothenburg player/GM Chris Legge dropped the gloves with Dale Weise with 13 seconds left. Perhaps that was frustration talking because it was the first fighting major of the year for the Paris team.
Lisbon 4, Munich 2 – The Munich Dire Wolf got goals out of two youngsters they need to have score, but Lisbon was too strong for them. Fyodor Malykhin scored his 2nd-ever goal to open the scoring in the second period, and previously injured Filip Forsberg notched his first EURO goal against Lisbon goalie Karri Ramo. Lisbon was led by veteran Shea Weber, who had a goal and an assist, and Zach Parise, who had 2 assists. Lisbon is the fourth-highest goal-scoring team in the league and no team gives up fewer shots per game than the Portugese do.
Zurich 4, Milan 3 – Tyson Barrie and Devan Dubnyk might have stolen a game from the Milan Guerriero. Defenseman Barrie entered the game with no goals this season, but he’ll enter his next game with 3. And Dubnyk, the Zurich backup goalie, made 39 saves including a bit of highway robbery on Tyler Johnson in the last 30 seconds of regulation play. In overtime, Zurich had superstars Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrice Bergeron on the ice and their hard work in the Milan zone drew the attention of the Guerriero defenders long enough for Barrie to slip into a seam in front of the net. Bergeron spotted him, fed him a pass, and Barrie buried it.
Helsinki 6, Stockholm 1 – The Jokerit shocked the Eagles with 5 goals in the first period and ended up on the right side of a lopsided score in the battle of Finnish and Swedish teams. Thomas Vanek scored twice and he now has 12 goals on the season. The Jokerit’s top line of Vanek, Paul Stastny and Alexander Radulov have been fantastic by defensive-minded Helsinki’s terms, as each member of the line is averaging at least a point per game so far. Vanek is well on his way to bettering his career best in goals for a season. His best year came in Season 2, when he scored 26 times for the Geneva Generals.
Madrid 3, Prague 2 – Defensman Nick Holden sent slapshot off a defender’s leg and into the net to complete an exciting comeback by the Madrid Royals in Prague. The Wold Pack led 2-0 after two periods on goals by Nail Yakupov and Mark Scheifele, but the Royals stormed back in the final period. Holden and defense partner Jonas Brodin each had two points in the period. Shots were even in the game and just about even in the second period, with Prague dominating the first period and Madrid dominating the third. Two Andrejs led the game in blocked shots. Andrej Sekera blocked 3 for Prague, while Andrej Meszaros did the same for the visiting Royals.
Minsk 5, Geneva 4 – Minsk won it in overtime when Mark Giordano fired a shot past General goalie Frederik Andersen halfway through the period. Sergei Kostitsyn, who played three seasons for Minsk, tied the game for Geneva by scoring his second goal of the period in the final minute of regulation. Kostitsyn leads Geneva in goals with 10 and is tied for the team lead in scoring with 18 points. Minsk was led by the line of Gustav Nyquist, Jordan Staal and Thomas Powell. Powell scored twice, Nyquist once, and Nyquist and Staal led everyone in scoring with 3 points each. Minsk out-shot the Generals 45-30.
