Belfast 5, Copenhagen 2 – Belfast leads series 2-1

Andrej Meszaros of all people  played really well for Copenhagen in the series opener, but that was about it as far as the Tridents were concerned. Belfast basically blew them away but outshooting them 40-16 and outscoring them 5-2. Meszaros scored two goals and played well throughout the game in a losing cause. Sidney Crosby had a pair of assists for Belfast while Vladimir Tarasenko, Nazem Kadri and Matt Duchene were also catalysts for the winners. Each of the four forwards who play on the team’s first and third lines scored 2 points in the game and combined for 16 shots on Brian Elliott. Copenhagen tried to bang Belfast bodies, delivering 33 hits, but Belfast stayed in the game and in the hitting totals, with 25 of their own. The players kept it pretty clean, with only 5 minor penalties being called in the game. Copenhagen could decide to re-insert first-year defenseman Nick Holden into the lineup for Game 2. Holden played in 80 regular season games, scored 10 goals and was a minus 23 for the Tridents before getting injured in Game 6 of their first-round series against Edinburgh.