Dublin 4, London 3 (OT) – One of the hottest teams in the league – the London Dons – were playing a spotless game but were only up 1 when their Ahearne Division rivals Dublin pulled their goalie and got a clutch goal from Ryan Kesler to send the game into overtime. Halfway into the extra session, Tomas Plekanec drifted a pass back to the point and Dublin’s Ryan Murray unleashed a slapshot to beat all-star goalie Martin Jones and send London back to their island minus a point they thought they had in their pocket. Kesler and linemate Phil Kessel each had 3 points for the Fighting Irish. London had won 3 straight games coming into the contest and they were coming of two consecutive victories over Berlin. For Dublin, the win snapped a three-game losing streak.
St. Petersburg 4, Prague 3 (OT) – In another overtime game,visiting St. Petersburg beat the Wolf Pack when Jonathan Huberdeau scored his 11th goal of the season. Huberdeau had a goal and an assist for the Red Stars while teammate Brian Boyle scored twice and had 2 hits and 3 blocked shots. Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff was on top of his game, making 37 saves including 20 in a third-period assault by Prague.
Paris 4, Helsinki 2 – The visitors from Finland scored a pair of goals in the first 5:15 of the game, but the Jokerit didn’t have the last laugh. The Rouges Eiffels, led by Russian forwards Alexander Semin and Evgeny Malkin, slowly got back into the game and then overtook Helsinki and win another at home. Chad Johnson played great in the Helsinki net as the starter, but penalties proved costly for the Jokerit. Paris scored twice with the man advantage. Kris Letang delivered 8 hits in the game for Paris, while Helsinki blueliner Nerius Alisauskas had 6.
Athens 4, Bratislava 0 – Bratislava goalie Marc-Andre Fleury nearly shut out the Greeks twice this season, but on Wednesday, Athens beat him for four goals and it was Greek goalie Cam Ward who was the star, making 26 saves en route to a shutout. Captain David Backes scored a shorthanded goal and Vadim Shipachyov tallied while on the powerplay as the Greeks went into the dressing room up 2-0 after two periods. All-Star Game MVP Ryan O’Reilly had two assists and veteran Tim Gleason scored his first goal of the season, 51 games into it.
Berlin 6, Copenhagen 1 – The Smurfs gave up a quick goal to Chris Higgins and the Tridents but then proceeded to pummel Copenhagen. Berlin outshot the visiting Tridents 46-23 and seemed to be ignited by Logan Couture, the best all-around LW in the league, who scored shorthanded to tie it at 1-1 with 7:43 to play in the first period. Couture now has 6 shorthanded goals this season to lead the league and he is second all-time in that column to Bratislava captain Jonathan Toews. Six different Smurfs scored Wednesday and Berlin’s Patric Hornqvist, Aleksander Barkov and Couture all had 2 points.
Stockholm 4, Gothenburg 2 – In a battle of Swedish rivals, the Eagles’ third line of Derick Brassard, Mike Richards and Craig Smith was the biggest factor. The line played only 9 minutes but scored twice. It was actually Finn Olli Maatta who scored the eventual game winner, but Richards’ line did all the work to get him a clear shot on the Gothenburg net. Maatta’s second goal of the year gave Stockholm a 4-1 cushion heading into the final period. Brassard and teammates Marcus Foligno and Brendan Gallagher combined for a total of 17 shots on goal. Gothenburg’s Petr Vrana had a goal and an assist. The speedy Vrana missed nearly a month of games with a knee injury but he has scored points at a pace higher than he has in the past and he’s sure to finish with more takeaways than giveaways for the fourth straight season. The two Swedish teams are separated by one point in the standings.
