Finnish, Swiss, and Swedish powerhouses punch tickets to the Champions Hockey League quarterfinals. One team battled back with overtime heroics to seal their spot.
Tuesday’s Champions Hockey League action sees the first five round-of-16 ties wrap up with their return legs, with the winners on aggregate scores advancing to the quarterfinals. Lukko Rauma from Finland, EV Zug from Switzerland, and three Swedish teams: Luleå Hockey, Frölunda Gothenburg and Brynäs Gävle – the fifth team to advance with a come-from-behind overtime victory.
The final three quarterfinalists will be determined on Wednesday.
Lukko Rauma (FIN) 5
– Storhamar Dragons (NOR) 2
(Lukko advances on
aggregate 7-4)
Lukko entered the game with a one-goal aggregate lead. Mats Bakke Olsen scored early to tie it for Storhamar, but on the game’s first power play, Aarne Intonen restored a lead that Lukko wouldn’t relinquish again.
Sparta Prague (CZE)
3 – EV
Zug (SUI) 2
(Zug advances on
aggregate 8-3)
Facing a six-goal deficit on aggregate score, Sparta reduced it to four with a pair of second-period goals, but got no closer. Dominik Kubalík and Mark Pysyk were among the goal-scorers in the third period as Zug prevailed comfortably.
Kometa Brno (CZE) 5
– Luleå Hockey (SWE) 3
( Luleå advances on
aggregate 9-6)
Like their fellow Czechs, Kometa faced an enormous hole to climb out of, trailing by five on aggregate score. They managed to reduce it to three on three different occasions, but that’s as close as it would get. Šimon Stránský had a goal and an assist for Kometa but, despite losing the game, Luleå advances to the quarterfinals.
Frölunda
Gothenburg (SWE) 1 – Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups 2
(Frölunda advances on
aggregate 4-3)
Frölunda ultimately advanced as expected, but this was much closer than anzbody would have guessed. The teams traded goals 1:17 apart in the second period and Alexandre Mallet scored the game-winner for Grenoble with 3:55 remaining. However, the "Wolf Burners" still trailed by one on aggregate and pressed for the equalizer, but came up short.
SC Bern (SUI) 3 – Brynäs Gävle (SWE) 4
(Brynäs advances on aggregate 6-5 in OT )
This was perhaps the most anticipated round-of-16 matchup and it didn't disappoint. Bern started the day up by a goal on aggregate and extended it to two by taking a 3-1 lead in the game. However, Brynäs stormed back to tie it, with Oscar Lindblom netting the equalizer in the last minute of regulation and Johan Larsson scoring in overtime to complete the comeback.
Wednesday’s schedule (with first leg scores):
Ilves Tampere (FIN) 3 –
Pinguins Bremerhaven (GER) 2
KalPa
Kuopio (FIN) 4 – ZSC Lions Zurich (SUI) 4
Red Bull Salzburg
(AUT) 2 – ERC Ingolstadt (GER) 6
