Munich 4, Prague 1 – Goalie Cory Schneider, defenseman Cody Ceci and the rest of Munich’s back end did most of the work enabling the Bavarian team to send Prague back over the border empty-handed. Schneider stopped all but one of Sparta’s 24 shots and Ceci played strong defense and assisted on two goals. Talgat Zhailauov scored his 15th of the season to give him the team lead in goals. T.J. Brodie and Ryan Wilson combined to dish out 9 hits and block 4 shots for the Dire Wolf. Prague and Munich are in a tight bunch of five teams fighting for the last two playoff berths in the Southern Conference.
St. Petersburg 4, Athens 3 – It’s been a good couple of days for the Krasnyye Zvezdy, who came into the week dragging a four-game losing streak behind them. On Tuesday, they turned away Moscow and on Wednesday they conquered Athens, both games being played at home. The team will try to keep the good fortune alive later this week as they embark on a two-game road trip to the British Isles. Against Athens, Kari Lehtonen and Petrograd held off Athens’ rally attempt, but just barely. The third period saw St. Petersburg go up 4-1 on a Tobias Rider goal, but momentum seemed to all be with the Gods as Anze Kopitar and Andrew Ladd tallied. The rally was dampened with a Loui Eriksson penalty with 1:22 remaining and then it was doused entirely 20 seconds later when Alex Edler’s stick came up and hit Jan Kovar in the face, drawing blood and giving the Krasnyye Zvezdy a 5-on-3 advantage through the end of the game. Danis Zaripov had 2 assists and was the only Red Star with a multi-point game.
Helsinki 5, Zurich 4 – The visiting Jokerit built a 5-1 lead after two periods and held off the Lions despite giving up three third-period goals.Both teams scored two powerplay goals in the game and Zurich also managed a shorthanded goal on a long Marc Staal shot. Rookie defenseman Matthew Dumba led all skaters in the game in scoring with 2 points, both asissts. The Jokerit have won four of their last five games. Before losing Tuesday and Wednesday, Zurich had been on an impressive run of their own, winning 5 of 6.
Berlin 3, Oslo 2 – The Smurfs held Oslo to just 11 shots on goal, but Zach Parise scored in the last minute to make it a little more interesting at the end. Jiri Tlusty, Derek Ryan and Tomas Vincour scored the goals for Berlin, with Zach Kassian and Matt Donovan assisting on Ryan’s goal and then on Vincour’s. Donovan now has 7 assists in 14 games played this season. Tlusty’s goal was his 13th of the season, which ties his career-best goal total. Oslo goalie Semyon Varlamov made 34 in the loss. The Outlaws have had trouble getting a lot of shots on goal all season. They rank last in the league with a 25.09 shots per game average.
Minsk 4, London 1 – The Hussars dominated again at home, outshooting London 47-13. It was the second drubbing London has suffered in Belarus this season. On Nov. 2, the Dons were beaten 6-1 and outshot 48-25. On Wednesday, Minsk’s top line of Nicklas Backstrom, Milan Lucic and Patrick Kane combined for 19 shots on Dons goalie Martin Jones, and they got two pucks past him. Defenseman Kris Russell and center Jordan Staal also scored for the Hussars. London’s most noticeable players were Sam Gagner and Dion Phaneuf, who were credited with 8 and 6 hits, respectively.
