The toll taken on the Helsinki Jokerit in their first-round marathon sprint with Gothenburg might be showing a little. The Finns fought back from a 3-0 deficit Monday, but they seemed to peter out in the game’s final minutes, and Chris Higgins struck the death blow with 3:26 to play in regulation.  Moscow now leads the second round series 2 games to 1. Higgins’ third goal of the playoffs exposed Helsinki’s main problem on the day and that was penalty killing. Three of Moscow’s big stars scored powerplay goals in the first period and Higgins’ big tally was also on the powerplay. Moscow was 4 of 6 with the man advantage. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of the game for Moscow Coach Glen Gulutzan was the play of marquee Spartak star Anze Kopitar. Gulutzan has benched Kopitar for playoff games before and threatened to do so again this series.  But the big Slovenian’s unselfish pass on Saturday led to Andrew Ladd’s overtime winner and that might have swayed Gulutzan. Whatever the reason, it was a good decision.  Kopitar wasn’t spectacular – especially on faceoffs – but he scored his first goal of the playoffs and was able to get 4 shots on goal to go along with 3 hits. Derek Roy and Ladd were the key ingredients in the Moscow powerplay. Both ended with 3 points. The worst moment of the game for Helsinki occurred with 6:34 remaining in the first period. That’s when Icelandic referee Sigurd Gunlaugsson caught Brad Marchand leveling Moscow’s Brandon Sutter from behind a little behind the play. Moscow scored two goals on Marchand’s major penalty. But the Jokerit clawed their way back with two goals late in the second period and a Marchand goal – his 3rd of the playoffs – early in the third period. Game 4: What Helsinki and their all-world goalie Henrik Lundqvist could use most is rest.  But they also need to shore up that penalty killing. It will be interesting to see if coach Barry Trotz skates them much on Tuesday.  The playoffs have unearthed the dormant point producing ability of Justin Abdelkader. The American center has 8 points in 10 playoff games. Before this season began, he had only 14 points in 86 games. During this regular season, he scored 8 goals and 21 points in 82 games. Moscow needs to keep playing their patient, disciplined style. Kopitar and Ladd are both on three-game point scoring streaks and goalie Jaro Halak was good enough to earn the win against Helsinki’s 36-shot attack Monday.

The U.S. soccer team scored 34 seconds into their game with Ghana today. Copenhagen’s Alexander Ovechkin would say “What took you so long?” In Game 3 of the Tridents’ Northern Conference semifinals game in St. Petersburg, Ovechkin scored two goals in the first 31 seconds. Tomas Fleischmann assisted on both goals. Before the end of the first period, Ovechkin’s teammates Brooks Laich and Drew Shore also scored to give the visitors a 4-0 lead and from then on, it was a matter of laying back and collecting rebounds in front of goalie Roberto Luongo, who ended up making 30 saves. Shea Weber was again noticeable for the Tridents. The former Outlaw and Don was plus 3, and his stats line included 3 shots, 2 blocked shots and 8 hits. In addition to Ovechkin and Fleishcmann, three other Tridents scored two points. Boyd Gordon, Matt Moulson and Stephen Weiss all had two assists.  Wayne Simmonds, a Red Stars winger, gave Copenhagen the most to worry about. He scored a goal with 12:27 left in the second period to make it 4-2 and then with 8:06 left in regulation to make it 5-3. Simmonds also led his team in hits with 4. Game 4: St. Petersburg Coach Kevin Dineen had to play without an injured Valtteri Filppula in Game 3 and will have to again in Game 4. One-time Paris forward Ryan Russell was pressed into action Monday and played 7 minutes. Russell played in only 3 games this regular season.  St. Petersburg needs to even the series Wednesday because they don’t want to return to Denmark in a must-win situation. Copenhagen, by contrast, is healthy and their big guns like Ovechkin and Weber have played well for several games in a row.  The Tridents like to stay out of the penalty box and Brent Sutter will be preaching his discipline sermon again in two days.