Luleå Hockey, Brynäs Gävle and Frölunda Gothenburg were the winners in the Champions Hockey League’s three first-leg games on Tuesday. Lulea and Brynäs both won at home against previously unbeaten Finnish opponents, while Frölunda opened in Germany and will play at home next week.

The fourth quarterfinal – Lukko Rauma from Finland vs. EV Zug from Switzerland – will open with Wednesday’s lone game. All four return legs will be played in two weeks on Dec. 16.

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Luleå Hockey (SWE) 3 – Ilves Tampere 2 (FIN)

Starting the two-game, total-goal set on home ice, Luleå got off to a strong start, scoring twice in the first period. After a scoreless second, Ilves twice narrowed the deficit to one in the third period. That might loom large, as the Finnish club will start the return game at home trailing by just one goal on aggregate.

Former Detroit Red Wings winger Mathias Bromé led Luleå offensively with a goal and an assist.

After winning its first eight games through the Champions Hockey League regular season and round of 16, this was Ilves’ first loss of this year’s competition.

Brynäs Gävle (SWE) 5 – KalPa Kuopio (FIN) 1

Andreas Okan opened the scoring for KalPa just 25 seconds in, but after that it was all Brynäs – outshooting KalPa 39-16 and scoring five straight goals. KalPa became the second Finnish team of the night to lose its first game, and faces a much bigger hole to dig out of in the return leg.

All of Brynäs’ big names were in the lineup but scoring was evenly distributed, with Axel Jonsson-Fjällby being the only player to record two points.

ERC Ingolstadt (GER) 1 – Frölunda Gothenburg (SWE) 3

Like Brynäs, Frölunda gave up the first goal before coming back. Leon Hüttl opened the scoring for Ingolstadt, to the delight of the home crowd, but two goals in the second period and one more in the third means that the four-time CHL champs will have a two-goal advantage entering play in the return game at home.

Max Friberg, Linus Weissbach and defenseman Henrik Tommernes had two points each for Frölunda. 

Wednesday’s game:

Lukko Rauma (FIN) – EV Zug (SUI)

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) – Lukko Rauma (FIN)

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