Aleksey Morozov, Anze Kopitar and Andrew Ladd had some real offensive chemistry going in Game 5 to help their Moscow Spartak team defeat Helsinki 6-4. While they were on the ice together, the threesome accounted for a total of 4 goals and 9 points. But coach Glen Gulutzan won’t get to build on that chemistry for Game 6 and 7 because Morozov is out with an upper body injury he sustained when he was steamrolled by Helsinki’s Daniel Fernholm on a legal check late in the game Friday. Playing in front of their home fans, Moscow controlled possession in the game and first-period goals by Morozov and Jannik Hansen provided a margin that Helsinki could never erase. Spartak outshot the Jokerit 12-3 in that period, but the final two periods were played very evenly, with both teams scoring 4 times. Alexei Kalyuzhny contributed to the Moscow cause with 2 assists, 2 blocked shots and he was 9 of 14 on faceoffs. Teammate Brandon Sutter blocked a game-high 4 shots and had 2 hits, but ended up minus 2. Helsinki’s most impressive stats lines came from two defensemen and a fourth-line center.  Jack Johnson was colossal, getting 2 assists, 6 hits and 3 blocked shots in his 24 minutes on the ice. Nerius Alisauskas delivered 7 hits and blocked one shot, while Jim Slater came through with 2 assists and 4 hits in just 11 minutes of ice time. Game 6: Neither goalie was good in Game 6 and Helsinki will need Henrik Lundqvist to pull another game out of the fire to force a game 7. The loss of Morozov, who is rarely in the discussion of the most valuable players in the EURO, is significant. The Moscow-born right wing is an excellent two-way player.  The offense he has provided Moscow in his two seasons is noticeable. He fires shots at net at a greedy rate – 228 shots his rookie year and 220 this year – and he gets results. He scored 31 goals this season after a 28-goal campaign in his first year. In the playoffs, he has been an important member of the team with 21 points in 23 games.

Copenhagen, the Northern Conference’s best team during the regular season, is through to the conference finals, brushing aside St. Petersburg in 5 games. The Tridents stomped all over the Red Stars Friday in a 5-0 shutout on home ice. They were in control throughout and ended up on top of a lopsided shot total of 40-15. When Drew Shore stole a puck from Dmitri Kalinin and scored a nice goal on Pekka Rinne 8 minutes into the game, he couldn’t have known it would be all the offense Copenhagen would need … so he scored another 22 seconds later. Shore has 5 playoff goals this season, playing on the Tridents’ defense-first line with Boyd Gordon and Colin Greening. Shore had 11 goals and 11 assists during the regular season. Greening scored the most insulting goal of the game Friday. After Copenhagen took advantage of St. Petersburg’s desperation and frustration with two Stephen Weiss powerplay goals to make it 4-0, Greening added a short-handed goal with 7:27 left. That one started a chorus of jeering songs in the stands and left the Red Stars totally hopeless. Roberto Luongo was air-tight but he didn’t have to do much to earn his league-leading third playoff shutout.  The Tridents will face either Moscow or Helsinki for the right to go to Cup Finals.