It was an eventful Friday night in Europe. That screaming you heard was Minsk fans when Nicklas Backstrom went down with a severe injury that will keep him out of the first round of the playoffs. And what sounded like an echo from the east was actually Moscow fans screaming when Anze Kopitar was hurt a little later. Kopitar’s injury wasn’t as bad, but it will hurt not having him for even one game in a series that just got a lot closer.

Friday saw three one-goal games that all tied their series at 1-1.

In Moscow, the Edinburgh Capitals and goalie James Reimer fought tooth and nail to emerge with a big win in double overtime.  Reimer played instead of normal no. 1 goalie Ilya Bryzgalov in Game 2 and it turned out to be a genius move by coach Lindy Ruff. Reimer let in a goal by Moscow’s Brandon Sutter late in the third period that tied the game after Jamie Benn’s second of the game gave the visiting Caps a 3-2 lead. That set up an overtime that will go down as one of the most exciting 27 minutes in Edinburgh team history.  Both teams aired it out and both goalies were remarkable in the first 20 minutes. Moscow’s Jaroslav Halak saved the game for the home fans about 7 and a half minutes in by stoning Derek Stepan on a breakaway. Later, with Moscow on a 5-on-3 advantage Reimer flashed his right pad across the crease to stop a sure goal by Dustin Brown and then did a move that only Gumby has performed before to rob Aleksey Morozov on the rebound. The second overtime period was a little tighter and it ended when Andrei Kostitsyn took a centering pass from Chris Stewart, barged across the front of the crease and jammed the puck past Halak. Moscow complained that Kostitsyn made contact with Halak before he shot, but referee Gerard de Bruijn of Denmark didn’t see enough on the replay to overturn the call. Game 3: The teams will travel 5 and half hours by air to cover 2,516 kilometers (1,564 miles).  When they get to Scotland, there is a chance the Moscow lineup will look a little different. If Kopitar can’t go because of his undisclosed injury, Alexei Ponikarovsky will play his second game of the playoffs. Early indications are that he, Benoit Pouliot and Eric Nystrom would form a fourth line of players who are all primarily left wings.  Alexei Kaluzhny might center Brown and Andrew Ladd, but Sutter worked well with them on Friday. Edinburgh meanwhile has to decide if Reimer gets the start again or if they think Bryzgalov would be a better choice.

In Copenhagen, Backstrom’s bad ankle injury at the very end of the first period seemed to have a buckle-down and get-it-done effect on the Hussars, as they controlled the second period. Nick Bjugstad and Patrik Berglund scored goals and goalie Carey Price kept all 15 of Copenhagen’s shots out in a furious third period. Game 3: The teams will travel by air for 3 hours and 40 minutes to cover 705 kilometers (438 miles). In Belarus, Berglund will be under the microscope as he moves to the top line between Milan Lucic and Jakub Voracek in place of Backstrom. The wings on that line did well Friday, combining for 7 of the team’s 19 shots on goal. Zac Rinaldo will be inserted to fill the lineup hole, a position he got used to in the regular season due to Backstrom’s injury problems. For Copenhagen, the league’s best team will need more play like Brooks Laich provided in Friday’s contest. He won the vast majority of his faceoffs, worked the puck to Price 4 times, hit and played a good defensive game.

Finnish goalie Antti Niemi didn’t pull an Alexander Ovechkin and put his hand up to his ear to hear what Helsinki’s fans had to say now, but everyone knew he had the right to. After absorbing a constant serenade of jeers from Jokerit fans in Game 1 and most of Game 2, Niemi emerged with a shutout in his home country, stopping 26 shots in the process. Helsinki’s Henrik Lundqvist was nearly as good, but this wasn’t a game of horseshoes. The only goal of the game came in the second period during one of Gothenburg’s 6 powerplays. John Carlson worked the puck to big Eric Staal , who dished it to Zach Parise. The trade deadline acquisition from Minsk who scored 38 goals in the regular season then wristed one over Lundqvist’s right shoulder. Gothenburg’s Martin St. Louis was the most dangerous player on the ice, firing off 6 shots, but the play of Helsinki defensemen Daniel Fernholm and Jared Cowen was more noticeable. Fernholm registered 5 hits and 3 blocked shots, while Cowen had 4 of each. Game 3: The two teams will fly over the Baltic Sea and Stockholm for an hour and a half to cover 800 kilomters (500 miles). The Swedish fans will greet one of their own, Lundqvist, with jeers like Niemi got in his home country. Jokerit coach Barry Trotz will be looking for a more inspired effort from the second line of Alex Burrows, Cody Eakin and Ryan Clowe. That line managed just 2 shots on goal Friday. Gothenburg, which had fewer regulation losses on home ice than any other team in the EURO, won 2 of 3 from Helsinki at home this season.

While 6 other playoff teams in the Northern Conference are gasping after hard-fought games, Dublin has a little bit of breathing room. The Fighting Irish have opened a 2-0 gap in their playoff series with St. Petersburg, winning 4-3 Wednesday and 5-2 Friday. In Game 2, defensemen James Wisniewski and Keith Yandle were the big stars. Wisniewski put the game away with two third-period goals and Yandle opened the scoring in the game and collected assists on both Wisniewski goals. It was an offense-first affair with Dublin outshooting the Red Stars 43-33. Ryan Kesler and Tomas Plekanec each had 2 assists for Dublin and veteran Tim Thomas continued his strong play for the Irish. Game 3: The teams will travel 5 hours and 40 minutes by air to Petrograd, a distance of 2,315 kilometers (1,438 miles). It will be imperative for St. Petersburg to win one of their home games. The key will be finding a way to exploit the hard-charging Irish – like the top line of Kesler, Phil Kessel and Bobby Ryan. Goalie Pekka Rinne and the likes of top defenseman Brent Burns haven’t figured out how to stop them yet, but for St. Petersburg’s sake, they have to come up with an answer soon. The Red Stars’ best defensive forwards are Artem Anisimov, Cam Atkinson and Viktor Stalberg and having the last change at home might help St. Petersburg match them against some of Dublin’s biggest threats.