Edinburgh 4, Bratislava 1 – The Edinburgh Capitals got their first win for new General Manager John Charles and in the process they became the first team this season to win in regulation time in Bratislava. Charles gets partial credit for the win, along with the players. And Jakub Kovar, the rookie goalie filling in for injured Kari Lehtonen, along with Brandon Dubinsky, deserve more credit than anyone. Charles asked coach Randy Carlyle to send a message to the team by benching one of its underachieving veterans: -11 Jay Bouwmeester. The Caps seemed the get the message loud and clear and they gained confidence every time Kovar turned away an Eagles shot. The young Czech ended up with 31 saves and now sports a 4-2 record. Dubinsky assisted on Edinburgh’s first two goals – scored by Olivier Roland and Pierre-Marc Bouchard – and then he scored one of his own (his 11th) to make it 3-1 in the third period. Edinburgh currently sits 19th overall but only 3 points out of the playoffs and they finished 5th overall with 107 points last season, so the players have to believe they have better hockey in them. Perhaps the message sent by Charles and Carlyle will help turn their season around.

Belfast 3, Copenhagen 2 – Late in a 2-2 game and with the home team Copenhagen having a small shots advantage, Nazem Kadri of Belfast got to a loose puck in the neutral zone, carried it into the Tridents end and carried it all the way around the boards, behind Tim Thomas’s net and back up the other side. That gave his Giants teammates time to get into the zone and set up screens in front of Thomas. A pass back to Oliver Ekman-Larsson and a slapshot into the crowd and the Swede had a goal and the Giants had the lead. Mikko Lehtonen and James Neal also scored for Belfast, with Lehtonen and Alexander Ovechkin leading the team in shots with 5 each. Joe Pavelski of Copenhagen had more shots than that (7) but he couldn’t score and he was minus 3 in the game. The line of Stephen Weiss, Clarke MacArthur and Chris Higgins scored both Copenhagen goals.

Bern 4, Prague 3 – This has been a very tough season for Bern. The Bears didn’t come out their off-season hibernation very quickly and Saturday proved that even when they get really lucky, they also get really unlucky. Out-shot 44-21 in Prague, the Bears somehow emerged with a win, but they also saw their top right wing Radim Vrbata take a puck off his right foot with just 21 seconds left in the game. He fell to the ice but still managed to sweep the puck to Mika Zibanejad who passed under pressure back to Tobias Enstrom, who then blasted a shot into the net to, for all intents and purposes, win the game. But when the puck hit Vrbata’s foot, it fractured a bone. Vrbata, a 34-year-old Czech who has missed just 5 games in his 4 plus seasons, will be out for most of the next month. He is among many Bears who are having a dismal season this year, with only 3 goals in his 24 games, but he has three 30-goal seasons on his resume, including his personal best 36 goals and 86 points last season. The game saw Prague in command until Bern scored the only two goals of the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Roman Josi scored his second of the season to tie it with 3:45 left in the game. Enstrom finished with 4 points and goalie Mike Smith made 41 saves for the Bears.

Lisbon 5, Zurich 4 (shootout) – Like Bern did, Lisbon won on the road but lost a key forward to injury. In the first period, Joe Thornton was checked by Zurich’s Marc Staal and it appeared Staal’s shoulder hit Thornton’s chin and the star second-line center left the game with a possible concussion. Team officials later said Thornton will miss about 4 weeks while he recovers. League Director of Player Discipline Sepp Blatter reviewed the play and ruled it a legal check. “Some checks are bigger than others,” said Blatter, who still might face an indictment for alleged bribe taking while he was head of the international soccer governing body. Belarusian Alexei Kalyuzhny has been promoted to center the second line in Thornton’s absence and the fourth line sees winger David Legwand trying his hand at center with rugged Kyle Clifford being inserted into the lineup on left wing. In the game, Lisbon had to fight their way back from a 4-2 deficit to tie it. Zurich looked good in the opening period, scoring 4 goals, including 3 while Lisbon had 3 defensemen in the penalty box due to a double minor and two simultaneous minors before the previous penalties expired. Zurich’s Jakub Voracek and Patrice Bergeron led all scorers with 3 points, while Steven Stamkos and John Tavares combined for 17 shots but only one goal for Lisbon.

Minsk 7, Stockholm 2 – The Hussars were on target often and their 37 shots produced 7 goals, including three on powerplays, against Stockholm’s Braden Holtby. The top line of Nicklas Backstrom, Milan Lucic and Patrick Kane did most of the damage. Kane swirled around the Stockholm end all night and he ended up with 3 assists. Backstrom scored twice and Lucic once. In a 7-minute stretch of the second period, Minsk broke the game open by scoring 4 times to take a 6-2 lead. No team averages more shots on goal than Minsk does, as they come in at 34.96 per game. They are also the stingiest team in the league when it comes to giving up shots on Carey Price. They allow just 26.24 per game. Zach Bogosian was Stockholm’s best player with 4 hits, 4 blocked shots and a fight.

Helsinki 4, London 2 – Veteran Jarome Iginla scored his first two goals of the season, including the game-winner on a third-period powerplay for the Jokerit. Helsinki also had Mark Stuart score his first goal of the season and that goal made it 2-1 Helsinki in the second period. Teddy Purcell and Jimmie Ericsson scored for London. As has been the case all season, Helsinki got a steady, quiet game out of its second defense pairing of Daniel Fernholm and Carlo Colaiacovo. The two are by far the team’s best plus-minus players. Although they only have scored 2 goals each, Fernholm is plus 17 and Colaiacovo is plus 16. Fernholm, a 25-year-old Swede, is third on the team and tied for 12th in the EURO in hits. And almost all of his 70 hits in 25 games have been clean. He has only been whistled for two penalties this season.