The first three first-leg games of the Champions Hockey League’s quarterfinals were played on Tuesday. Only one game was left on Wednesday and Lukko Rauma won it, making it the lone Finnish club to have the lead on aggregate score.

The four return games will all be played on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

Three Swedish Teams Win Champions Hockey League Quarter-Final Openers Swedish clubs secure crucial first-leg leads, overpowering Finnish rivals and opening strong in Germany, setting the stage for the rematches in two weeks.

Lukko Rauma (FIN) 3 – EV Zug (SUI) 1

Lukko got one goal in the first and one in the second, giving the Finnish squad a two-goal aggregate lead after two of six total periods. The teams then traded goals early in the third – Mike Künzle brought Zug within one on the power play on a nice set-up by Dominik Kubalík – but Pontus Westerholm’s second point of the game – assisted by brother Pathrik – quickly replied. In addition to Westerholm, Aarne Intonen also had two points for Lukko.

In a goaltending duel between battle-tested veterans Antti Raanta and Leonardo Genoni, Lukko’s Raanta stopped 28 of 29 shots and Zug’s Genoni stopped 23 of 26. It's the second time this season Raanta has got the better of Genoni, as Lukko beat Zug 1-0 on the last day of the regular season, Oct. 7. For the second year in a row, Raanta is shining in the CHL – he has a record of 6-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and .930 save percentage.

Raanta Shutout Clinches CHL Playoff Spot For Lukko It was good news for Finnish clubs in early Champions Hockey League action on Tuesday, with Lukko Rauma clinching a playoff berth and KalPa Kuopio remaining unbeaten. Later on, two more teams also secured playoff spots, bringing the total to five so far.

Next week, the two teams will play in Zug, the lone remaining team from Switzerland. The winner of the Lukko–Zug duel will face the winner of Luleå–Ilves in the semifinals.

Return games – Tuesday, Dec. 16:

Ilves Tampere (FIN) 2 – Luleå Hockey (SWE) 3
KalPa Kuopio (FIN) 1 – Brynäs Gävle (SWE) 5
Frölunda Gothenburg (SWE) 3 – ERC Ingolstadt (GER) 1
EV Zug (SUI) 1 – Lukko Rauma (FIN) 3