Geneva 3, Moscow 2 – A minute after Max Pacioretty  fired in his 31st goal of the season to give Moscow a 1-0 lead in front of the home fans, Geneva evened the score again when Nick Foligno charged into Spartak goalie Alexander Salak while trying to jam the puck over the goal line. Salak ended up in the net, Foligno ended up in the net, defenseman Anton Stralman was partially in the net, wrestling Foligno away from the goalie and the puck was nowhere to be seen until video replay proved it was over the line, albeit under Salak. The

Geneva Generals left wing Nick Foligno (71) scored twice against Moscow, but 65 games into Season 6 is on pace for his poorest-ever EURO League season.

goal was allowed to stand and the teams were level again, as they had been throughout the game’s first 6 minutes. In the second period, Foligno scored again and this time there was no controversy. The puck whizzed over Salak’s glove hand, pinged the goal post and went into the goal. Foligno, 29, has played his entire career with the Generals and has a Cup win on his resume. But this year, things aren’t going well. Despite averaging more ice time than in any of the previous five seasons, he is on pace for his lowest point total ever (35), and his highest penalty minute total (135). Five and a half minutes after Foligno put Geneva in front, Spartak’s Ryan O’Reilly intercepted a clearing pass and fired a shot that beat Geneva’s Frederik Andersen and the game was tied again, heading into the third period. It was an evenly played, cautious period with no penalties and then, with about 5 minutes to play, Geneva scored the game-winner, rookie Dylan Larking putting the finished touch on smart work by him and linemates Dany Heatley and Darren Helm. Moscow is third in the Northern Conference but in danger of slipping below Helsinki and possibly Stockholm. Geneva is embroiled in a whale of a struggle for a playoff spot in the Southern Conference. The Generals trail 8th place Zurich by 3 points but with two games in hand. Eight points separate 8 teams at the bottom of the conference standings and any of them can make the playoffs.

Oslo 5, Copenhagen 1 – Tomas Hertl came into the game as Oslo’s leading goal scorer. He didn’t score Wednesday, but most of the team’s top guns did against visiting Copenhagen. Tyler Seguin, Connor McDavid, Zach Parise, Tyler Kennedy and Andrei Loktionov all scored for the Outlaws. Two days earlier, Copenhagen knocked off Oslo in a close game. The two teams are battling each other to stay out of the last spot in the standings. Oslo seems to have more momentum at the moment, winning 5 of their last 10 games, and they might have turned a corner in their team development. With 45 points this season, the Outlaws are already ahead of their total output from Season 5 and they are just 2 points behind their Season 4 total.

Zurich 6, Athens 5 (OT-SO) – Athens came into Zurich and played an excellent game but somehow left with just one point in the standings. The Greeks had a 3-0 lead nearly halfway through the game before Zurich reeled off three powerplay goals in a 5-minute period. Athens regained the lead in the third period, but the Lions were able to erase a 5-3 deficit and get into overtime and then a shootout. Zurich’s Jakub Voracek and Patrice Bergeron were the offensive catalysts with 4 points each. For Athens, Scott Hartnell, Tomas Vincour and defenseman Staffan Kronwall all had three points.

Milan 4, Prague 3 – Brent Seabrook played a typical Brent Seabrook game and that was the difference in the game. The former Bern Bear who has had difficulty assimilating in Milan scored a goal and an assist, delivered 3 hits, blocked 2 Prague shots and was plus 1 in 28 minutes of ice time. His goal broke a 3-3 tie and was the only score registered in the final period. Mathis Olimb, Niklas Danielsson and Tyler Johnson also scored for the Italian team. Viktor Arvidsson, Dmitri Kulikov and Ryan Getzlaf scored for Prague.

Belfast 4, Madrid 3 (OT-SO) – Madrid could have and probably should have won the game, but they just couldn’t put the two-time defending champs away in the third period, despite outshooting Belfast 15-3. Jonathan Quick made 44 saves for the Giants and two big ones in the shootout. Ondrej Palat of Belfast and Madrid’s Sean Couturier were the only players with multi-point games. Each had 2. Palat scored with about two minutes left in the game to break the home fans’ hearts and send the game into overtime.