Helsinki 5, Gothenberg 0 – Finns and Swedes have a slight disrespect for each other and on Tuesday, the Finns got the last – or at least most recent – laugh. A 5-0 shutout win punctuated by 32 hits by the Jokerit had a few Devils … umm, hot. Dan Girardi seemed to care more about evening the disparity in hits and he got 7 on his own, and teammate Mark Fraser had had enough halfway through the second period, attacking Helsinki’s Zack Smith in the corner and starting a fight. Smith, who scored the first goal of the contest a period earlier, held his own against Gothenburg’s tough guy and the fight seemed to work in Helsinki’s favor. Paul Stastny scored an unassisted goal just 21 seconds after the bout and Helsinki had a 3-0 lead. Henrik Lundqvist didn’t have much work – Helsinki outshot Gothenburg 44-18 – but the work he did was perfect. The Swedish goalie recorded his first shutout of the season, a stat that’s surprising given the fact he ranks fourth in the league in save percentage with a 91.3 average. Steve Downie scored twice for Helsinki in the game and he now has hit double figures in goals for the third straight season. He is playing on the second line for the Jokerit along with Derek Roy and Brad Marchand, making it the most hated forward line in the EURO League and possibly of all time.
Paris 5, Milan 2 – Ossi Vaananen, the Paris defenseman who is the all-time leader in plus-minus rating, scored two goals to help his teammates leave Italy with a win. Vaananen, 29, has 5 goals and 19 points through 34 games and is on a pace to record his best offensive season. Fellow Finn Mikko Koivu had assists on both Vaananen goals and he is also on pace to top his best-ever point total. Danny Dekeyser had two assists for Milan.
Copenhagen 3, London 1 – The Tridents started well, scored three first-period goals, and held on for a relatively trouble-free win. Joe Pavelski, Clarke MacArthur and Dougie Hamilton accounted for most of the points that were scored in that first period. Pavelski had a goal and 2 assists, Hamilton had a goal and an assist, and MacArthur recorded two assists. Copenhagen’s penalty killers were outstanding, stopping all 9 of the Dons’ powerplay chances. London’s best player was Kevin Shattenkirk, a defenseman who blocked 5 shots, delivered 6 hits and logged 36 minutes of ice time.
Munich 4, Prague 3 – Henrik Sedin lifted Munich to its second win in as many nights as they defeated Prague in a Battle of Wolves. The Dire Wolf were outshot by the Wolf Pack 34-30, and they trailed twice in the game. But Sedin scored to tie the game 2-2 in the second period and then again in the beginning of third period to give Munich its first lead. Marcel Hossa scored his 10th of the season for Prague to tie it, but Sedin scored once more to record a hat trick and put the Dire Wolf in front with 2:25 remaining. Tomas Fleischmann assisted on all three Sedin goals. Two of those goals came on powerplays against the league’s worst penalty killing team. Munich defensemen Francois Beauchemin and Chris Campoli combined for 15 hits and 5 blocked shots. Campoli played an incredible 39 minutes.
Edinburgh 3, Dublin 2 (OT) – Claude Giroux ended a close game by scoring on a hard wrist shot in overtime. It was his second tally of the game and 19th of the season and it came on his 8th shot of the game. He would not have had the chance to even shoot if not for a pretty play near the end of regulation time put together by his teammates Olivier Roland, Brandon Dubinsky and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Bouchard capped it with a goal with 2:37 left to knot the score at 2-2. Tom Wandell and Phil Kessel scored for Dublin, but the best Fighting Irish player was goalie Jonathan Bernier who kept his team in the game by making 34 saves.
