Dublin erased a 2-0 deficit and were able to bottle up Copenhagen after an Evander Kane goal early in the third period put the Irish ahead to stay. The Tridents scored two first period goals – one by Dany Heatley (6th of the playoffs) and the other by Stephen Weiss (5th) – on  Tim Thomas, but the Dublin netminder closed the door the rest of the way. His efforts were rewarded by three Irish goals, one each by James Wisniewski (4th), Tomas Plekanec (2nd) and Kane (11th). Plekanec also assisted on Wisniewski’s goal in the second period.

A worker in downtown Dublin posts a sign to show support for the Fighting Irish as they battle in the Northern Conference finals.

Copenhagen had the advantage in shots on goal by a 25-15 count after two periods. But Dublin outshot the home team 8-5 in the final period and they will return to Ireland for Games 3 and 4 with the series knotted at 1-1. Copenhagen had a chance to retake the lead in the second period after Dublin’s Keith Yandle gave them 5 minutes of powerplay time with a checking from behind major penalty. Neither team scored on the powerplay Thursday. Zbynek Michalek, one of two Czech brothers in the Dublin lineup, blocked a shot and was injured on his first shift of the game. He did not return to action and is likely to miss a couple more games. Michalek had been paired with Nick Schultz on the Irish’s second defense unit and he’s likely to be replaced by either Russian Nikita Nikitin or Canadian Jay Harrison. That will be coach Alain Vigneault’s call on Saturday. Michalek did not play the full year for the Irish. He appeared in 47 games, scored 8 points and was a minus 3. He was also a minus 3 through 14 playoff games. The series shifts to Dublin where excitement about the team is higher than it’s ever been. The Irish averaged 15,240 fans per game during the season and are expected to fill the arena for the next two games.