Athens 3, Berlin 2 – The first half of Thursday’s game in Athens belonged to Berlin, but the rest of the game – including the final score – was all Greek. Alex Edler and Logan Couture scored in the second period to give the Smurfs a 2-0 lead, but Athens roared back, outshooting Berlin handily the rest of the way. Vadim Shipachyov scored to start the comeback, and Tomas Vincour and Bobby Butler added goals in the third period. Vincour’s goal was unassisted and ended up being the game-winner with 7:15 remaining in the game. It was also his second goal in as many games. Athens defensemen Ian White and Nick Kronwall were not partners in the game, but they both played 24 minutes and combined for 8 shots on goal and 7 blocked shots. Berlin leads the Schloder Division standings, while Athens is in third place in the Demitra.

London 6, Oslo 1 – The Dons carried a 2-0 lead into the second period and then put the game away with three more goals in a period that saw them outshoot Oslo 10-1. The Outlaws came back strong in the final period, getting off 17 shots, but London goalie Michal Neuvirth was sharp, allowing just one puck (Zach Parise’s 7th of the year) to pass. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and Jake Gardiner were both plus 3 for London and they added a goal and 4 assists between them.

Paris 3, Lisbon 2 – Some things never change. Paris won at home, where they are 15-1 this year, and Lisbon lost on the road to make their away record 2-12. The key goals in the game came after Lisbon scored a powerplay to take a 2-1 lead. After playing shorthanded for almost the entire first half of the third period, Paris scored two even-strength goals to tie the game and then take the lead. Ryan Clowe’s first goal of the season tied it and Kris Letang’s 4th of the year was the eventual winner. Paris dished out some bruises along the way, out-hitting Lisbon 39-24.

Edinburgh 5, Stockholm 1 – Shots were almost even in the game, but one goalie had a lot more joy than the other. Jakub Kovar of Edinburgh stopped 33 of 34 Stockholm shots, while Eagle backup goalie Erik Ersberg allowed 5 goals on 35 shots. Mike Hoffman, the left wing on the Caps’ second forward line, scored a hat trick and he now has 8 goals and 4 assists in his first year in the league. He played with Brandon Dubinsky as his center and Rickard Wallin on the right side. Defenseman Adam Larsson had 2 assists and 5 hits for Edinburgh.

Bratislava 5, Munich 4 (OT-SO) – Milan Gulas scored in overtime and had two assists in regulation to lead Bratislava past Munich in Bavaria. The game also saw two the best checking forwards in the league score goals.

Talgat Zhailauov – Munich Dire Wolf

Talgat Zhailauov of Munich is tied with Brian Boyle of St. Petersburg for most hits in the league among forwards with 67, although Boyle plays considerably fewer minutes per game. Zhailauov is also 16th among EURO centermen in scoring with 7 goals and 20 assists through 29 games. Jonathan Toews, Bratislava’s captain, is right behind Boyle and Zhailauov in hits but his scoring is down this season. He currently ranks 25th among EURO centers in scoring with 6 goals and 16 assists. Both Zhailauov and Toews scored in Thursday’s game. Bratislava’s powerplay might have been the difference, scoring 3 goals in 4 opportunities.

Helsinki 2, St. Petersburg 1 – In a close game, Helsinki won it when Pavel Datsyuk passed to Thomas Vanek on a planned faceoff play that set the Austrian winger up for at short shot after the pass crossed in front of Red Star goalie Antti Niemi. The goal came with 2:23 remaining in regulation while two St. Petersburg players were in the penalty box. One of those players was Wayne Simmonds, whose third period was … we’ll call it  … interesting. With Helsinki up 1-0 as the period began, Simmonds did some major league forechecking and got the puck to linemate Brad Richards who then fed Artem Anisimov for a point blank shot that beat Chad Johnson and tied the score. Simmonds earned an assist on the goal, but when Jokerit super pest Brad Marchand chopped his arm while the Red Stars were celebrating the goal, Simmonds exploded and went after Marchand. The two fought with no clear winner and Simmonds did a lot of sitting afterward, being hit with an instigator penalty as well as a 10-minute misconduct. On his next shift, late in the period, he and Marchand came together again and Simmonds tumbled to the ice .. and got called for diving.