Linkopings went down to defeat today at the hands of a Bjorn Melin overtime game winning goal as HV 71 triumphed 1-0. Fredrik Norrena made 24 saves on 26 shots but dropped to 15-7-4 on the season. HV 71 currently leads the Elitserien table and widened their lead on third place Linkopings to 13 points.

For the fourth straight week the Chicoutimi Sangueneens are the #1 ranked team in the CHL according to the Bank of Montreal CHL Top 10 rankings. Chicoutimi remains atop the standings despite not having the services of stars Stanislav Lascek and Marek Zagrapan who spent the last week playing in the World Junior Championships in Vancouver for Team Slovakia. Both players should return to Chicoutimi this weekend as the Sangueneens continue their pursuit of the QMJHL title and a M

Slovakia and Switzerland battled to a 3-3 tie in their final match of the relegation round. The Slovaks battled back from two Swiss 2 goal leads to tie the game thanks in part to goals by Lightning prospects Marek Bartanus and Stanislav Lascek. Bartanus finished +2 on the game while Lascek finished +1. Defenseman Vladamir Mihalik finished even with 2 shots on goal. Switzerland won the relegation round on goal differential by one goal.

Final Lightning Prospect Statistics: Slovakia
Stanislav Lascek, 6GP, 6-3-9, 8 PIM, (+3), 18 SOG
Vladamir Mihalik, 6GP, 0-3-3, 8 PIM, (-1), 8 SOG
Marek Bartanus, 5GP, 1-0-1, 4 PIM (-4), 4 SOG

A depleted Falcons roster failed to halt a long losing streak.

SPR-1
ALB-4

Coleman stopped 27 of 31 in the loss. Marek Kvapil scored Springfield's lone goal on an assist by David Spina.

Game sheet from TheAHL.com.

Canada did what Sweden could not do and solved Tuukka Rask to defeat Finland 4-0 and move on to the gold medal match against the winner of tonight's USA vs. Russia matchup. Rask made 39 saves on 43 shots and, in total, faced 96 shots in the span of 24 hours. Finland will play the loser of the USA vs. Russia game Thursday in the bronze medal match.