Friday’s games
Minsk 5, Dublin 3 – Five different Hussars scored goals, but one Minsk player had an assist on every one of those goals. Nicklas Backstrom, who now leads the league in scoring, goals and assists, added 5 assists to his total. Backstrom was drafted in the third round of the initial draft. GM Igor Kirunov took Carey Price in the first round and Ryan McDoinagh in the second. Through trades, he acquired Patrick Kane and Michael Del Zotto, who were both selected in the four picks before Kirunov picked Backstrom. In Friday’s game, Milan Lucic of Minsk had 10 shots on goal to go with a goal and two assists. All three of Dublin’s goals were scored while they had a man advantage. Phil Kessel put in two goals and James Van Riemsdyk scored the other.
Belfast 6, Copenhagen 2 – Nathan MacKinnon scored a hat trick to power the Giants past Copenhagen. Nazem Kadri had 3 assists for Belfast and Jonathan Quick stopped 36 shots. While Copenhagen outshot the champs, the line of Devin Setoguchi, Stephen Weiss and Johnny Gaudreau was minus 5.
Geneva 3, Zurich 2 (OT) – In a battle of Swiss teams, Sergei Mozyakin decided it with a goal in overtime, making 16,554 home fans happy. Dany Heatley and Valeri Nichushkin also scored for the Generals, while Ilya Kovalchuk, who had a game-high 8 shots – and Jussi Jokinen tallied for the Lions.
Prague 3, Moscow 0 – It was a scoreless game until Moscow took one too many penalties in the game. Prague’s powerplay units were given 8 chances to score in the game and on chance number 6, David Pastrnak broke the goose eggs about 6 and a half minutes into the third period. It was his 10th goal of the season. Dmitri Kulikov scored on a powerplay later in the period and Prague goalie Niko Hovinen made 22 saves for his second shutout of the season.
Gothenburg 3, Bern 1 – Cal Clutterbuck opened the scoring in the first period and then his long wrist shot beat Bern goalie Jan Laco in the third period for the eventual winning goal. Clutterbuck now has 10 goals for Frolunda. His best goal total ever was 18, which he achieved in Season 1 and then equaled in Season 5. Gothenburg’s penalty killing thwarted the Bears on 6 powerplays.
Milan 2, Madrid 1 (OT-SO) – Spanish police have an all-points bulletin out, looking for the Hammburglar. Andrew Hammond stopped 41 of 42 Madrid shots and stole a game from the Royals. Derek Stepan scored for Madrid a minute and a half into the contest, but Hammond battened down the hatches after that. Milan tied the game with 6 minutes left in the first period on a nifty deke and backhand by Mathis Olimb. Marcus Kruger had a good game for the Guerriero, winning 16 of 24 draws and getting 6 shots on Madrid’s hard-luck goalie Robin Lehner.
Saturday’s games
Stockholm 3, Dublin 0 – The Eagles took advantage of a tired Dublin team to win in Ireland and get a shutout for Braden Holtby. Dublin played a tough game with Minsk the night before. All three of Stockholm’s goals were scored in the second period and by defensemen. Keith Yandle scored his 2nd of the season, while rookie John Klingberg scored his 9th of the season. He is third in goals among all rookies in the league and fourth in scoring. Stockholm is currently in 6th place overall in the EURO League. That’s an impressive improvement for the club. The Eagles finished last in the league in Seasons 2 and 3, 15th in Season 4, and 19th last season. In the off season, GM Michael Sauer gave the team another makeover. Stockholm lost 14 players through various methods and gained 14 others.
Zurich 6, Prague 3 – The Wolf Pack had a 3-1 lead 8 minutes into the second period, but the Lions roared back with 5 unanswered goals. Jacob Trouba and Patrice Bergeron each had a goal and 2 assists to lead the way. Tyson Barrie contributed with 2 assists, 4 shots and 3 blocked shots.
Lisbon 3, Geneva 2 – Kari Ramo held off the Generals’ late surge to give Lisbon a road win. Marion Gaborik scored twice in the third period for Geneva after Lisbon had taken a 3-0 lead. Alexei Kalyuzhny put in his 4th of the season in the second period and that ended up being the game winner. Geneva’s Jason Garrison had an assist, 7 hits and 2 shot blocks.
Athens 6, Moscow 5 (OT-SO) – Moscow and Athens made headlines in the off season with two big trades that had 7 players and 2 draft picks changing cities. The four players who went from Moscow to Athens in the deals all haunted their former team in their return to Russia. Brandon Sutter was named the first star of the game, thanks in part to his 3 points and faceoff success; Jaroslav Halak made 44 saves and was named the second star; Andrew Ladd didn’t do much in regulation time but he scored the shootout goal that gave Athens the extra point in the standings; and Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist and won most of his faceoffs. Former Greeks Ryan O’Reilly and David Backes also did great against their old team, combining for 15 shots on goal and 3 points.
Bratislava 4, Paris 1 – The Eagles controlled the game from the outset, outshooting the Rouge Eiffels 45-25 by the time it was over. Second-year defenseman Patrick Wiercioch had a goal and an assist for Bratislava.
Minsk 6, London 2 – The line of Nicklas Backstrom, Patrick Kane and Milan Lucic was too tough for the Dons to handle as they combined for 3 first-period goals and one more in the second. Marco Scandella had 4 hits and 3 blocked shots for London.
Sunday’s games
Belfast 6, Madrid 3 – Nathan MacKinnon and James Neal scored twice each and for MacKinnon. that’s 5 goals in 2 games. Viktor Hedman had a goal and 6 hits for the Giants, while the Royals were led by Gabriel Landeskog, who had 2 goals, and Derek Stepan who added 3 assists.
Edinburgh 6, Oslo 2 – The Capitals scored three times in each of the first two periods and led 6-0 before Oslo got on the board in the third period. Six different players scored for Edinburgh and six had multi-point games, led by Olivier Roland, who opened the scoring with his 9th goal of the season before adding 2 assists. Defense partners Adam Larsson and Andy Sertich were plus 3 for the Caps.
Munich 5, St. Petersburg 2– Goalie Cory Schneider almost beat the host Red Stars by himself. He made 50 saves. Munich put Petrograd on edge when they scored three times in a 10-minute span of the first period to take a 3-0 lead. Patrick Marleau had 2 points for the Dire Wolf, while Dmitri Kalinin and Jeff Petry did the same for St. Petersburg.
Bern 4, Milan 2 – Radim Vrbata and the Bears figured out Milan goalie Andrew Hammond as Bern never trailed in the game. Vrbata had a goal and an assist and Mika Zibanejad had 2 assists to lead the way. The Bears outshot the Guerriero 32-17.
Copenhagen 6, Berlin 5 – In a battle of backup goalies, Andres De Le Garma prevailed over Niklas Svedberg. The score was tied 3-3 in the second period when Mathieu Perreault, Ilya Nikulin and Dan Hamhuis scored for Copenhagen within an 11-minute span to give the Tridents a 6-3 lead. Berlin scored two in the third period, but couldn’t force overtime. The Smurfs’ David Krejci led everyone in scoring with 3 points, all of them assists.
Gothenburg 4, Helsinki 2 – Frolunda gave up a goal to Helsinki’s Jack Johnson in the first five minutes of the game, but they dominated from that point on, outshooting the Jokerit 46-22. Adam Henrique and Jordan Eberle did the most damage. Both had 3 points, with Henrique scoring twice and Eberle once. The two teams both have 35 points and are currently in playoff positions in the Northern Conference.
