Two players remain in the NHL 24 EU Championship
First semifinal matchup was between Teemu "Temppanen" Karvonen and Niklas "NikkeDangles" Tukiainen. Game one saw a scoreless first period with both competitors feeling each other out. After some strong cycling below the goal line, NikkeDangles opened the scoring in the second frame, going into the third with a 1-0 lead.
Temppanen tied things up just over halfway through the third and forced overtime. NikkeDangles controlled the first half of the game, but Temppanen showcased excellent patience and defense and ended up burying the winner in overtime with a strong net drive.
NikkeDangles got off to a quick start in game two, scoring two-and-a-half minutes in before Temppanen responded with a rare one-timer goal. NikkeDangles forced a turnover in the neutral zone to spring his go-to HUT card, Connor McDavid, on a breakaway to take a 2-1 lead. NikkeDangles forced a sudden-death game three with a 3-1 game two victory.
Temppanen got on the board first in game three, which was his first time with a lead in the series. Temppanen's very strong defensive game proved to be an issue for the highly-skilled NikkeDangles. He took game three 4-1 and booked his ticket to the finals, as well as to the NHL 24 World Championship.
Temppanen finished third at the NHL 23 World Championship last year.
The second semifinal matchup featured Erik "Eki" Tamenpää and Henrik "Eken45jr" Eklund. Eki looking to qualify for his fourth NHL World Championship and attempting to win his sixth EU Championship.
Eki came out hot, scoring two goals in the first period. Eken bounced back tying the game up at two, but Eki roared back and took game one 5-2.
Eken started game two scoring one of the prettiest goals you'll ever see. Eken played a fantastic game two and got some huge saves from his goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. He took game two 3-2, and we got another sudden-death game three.
How would the G.O.A.T of NHL esports Eki respond? Clearly not happy with losing game two, he rattled off three goals in the first ten minutes of the first period of game three, ultimately proving to be the difference as he takes the series 2-1 with a dominant 8-0 win.
Eki will face off against his best friend Temppanen for the NHL 24 European Championship in a best-of-three. These two met in the finals of NHL 23. Eki bested his countrymen in game three overtime.
The EU Finals can be seen here on twitch.tv/nhl.
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