HV71 Jonkoping went into Rauma with a two-goal lead on aggregate, and escaped with a road victory to send them to the Round of 16. Read more in Gamecentre. 

by Csaba N. Devai, with contribution from Timo Simila

After being shut out in the first round, and trailing by two on aggregate, Lukko Rauma’s offence had to find a way to break the ice and put some goals on the board. Something similar must have been the coaching staff’s order, in the first two minutes of play there were four shots on the visitor’s goal. 

Consequently the home fans didn’t have to wait too long for their team's first goal, which arrived at 3:33 after a brilliant backhand centring pass from Joose Antonen. The puck found Peter Tiivola wide open who shot the puck to the top right corner. After giving up a goal so fast, HV71 were ready to answer. Less then four minutes later, following Adam Almquist’s shot on goal, Mattias Tedenby swept in the rebound to tie the game and restore the two-goal aggregate lead. 

“We had pretty good opportunity to win this one,” Tiivola said. “We scored three but gave up too many goals. Our defence could had been more solid tonight but losing with a shutout in Sweden was the main reason for our elimination. We created some good chances but the opponent were very unforgiving on their scoring opportunities.” 

It took the home team only 1:36 to grab the lead again. Lukko’s top scorer Aaron Gagnon skated into the opponent’s zone, passed two defenders, then lifted the puck into the net on a brilliant individual effort. But not even this beauty was enough to keep Lukko within one for long. Less then five minutes before the end of the first period HV71 took advantage of a power play. Dylan Reese passed to Ted Brithen at the blue line, who launched a rocket, and hammered the puck into the top right corner. It was an extremely intense period, but after four goals and 20 minutes of play the teams were back at square one with HV71 in front by two on aggregate.

The game didn’t change much in the second period, as the home team tried to have as much puck possession as possible in order to be able to cut into the HV71 lead once more. They succeeded at 25:39 when Jesse Virtanen’s goal put his team back within one again. 

“We had a little bit of trouble in the first few shifts because the rink is smaller here and Lukko pressured us well,” said veteran HV71 winger Teemu Laine. “During the game we got the hang of it and found a way to win.”

Just past the game's midpoint, HV71 showed why they came to the Kivikylan Areena. With 12:26 played in the second period, Christofer Torngren took advantage of a badly timed line change and went on to score the goal that tied the game up, and restored the two-goal difference on aggregate.

Then four minutes later, HV71 broke the pattern of the game, and took the lead for the first time. After a pass from Niklas Hansson, Erik Andersson went in on a breakaway and showed no mercy – he shot the puck into the net after tricking Kaapo Kahkonen out of position. Lukko were able to create a few chances after this shock, but they couldn’t decrease the three-goal difference on aggregate until the end of the second period.

The final period started with a goaltending change on the home team’s side, as Antti Karjalainen came in to replace Kahkonen. HV71 made sure that the new guy wouldn’t get bored, though, and put several shots on goal. Lukko didn’t seem to be able to bounce back completely from the two goals they gave up in the second period, in the vast majority of the time the puck was in the home team’s zone.

As time went by Lukko started to fight desperately to get closer to their opponent, but the just simply couldn’t create quality chances. After HV71 succesfully kept the puck away from their cage, at 58:25 Lukko pulled their goalie to have the man-advantage, but it seemed to be too little, too late. HV71 stood against the attacks, and the three goals the home team needed didn’t arrive. 

Despite the three goals that Lukko scored in the first two periods they were unable to defeat HV71, which means that the Swedish team advances to the next round with a 6-3 win on aggregate. 

“This game we weren't ready from the start, but in the second half we played really well – the way we want to play,” said HV71 coach Johan Lindbom. “We want to win the whole CHL, so we're looking forward to the next round.”