KalPa & Djurgarden renew Finnish-Swedish rivalry

In another Swedish-Finnish match-up, the historic Djurgarden Stockholm face KalPa Kuopio. While Djurgarden owned their group stage opponents on home ice, outscoring them 10-0 over two games, they had more trouble on the road, taking two of six points. As this series starts in Kuopio, it will be critical of the Finnish squad to get a good result at home and not head into Stockholm trailing. When they're on, both of these teams have good goaltending and have good team-defensive games, so don't expect any blow-outs here. However, Djurgarden is definitely more dangerous offensively, especially on the power play, so KalPa will have to stay disciplined and out of the penalty box. 

Djurgarden finished tied for top spot in Group B, winning the tie-breaker against HC Davos by out-scoring them in their two head-to-head meetings. That was thanks to a big 6-0 win when the teams met in Stockholm – in the return game in Davos it was the Swiss team winning 3-1. Against the Rouen Dragons, they also won by a shutout at home, 4-0, and won in overtime in France, with Robin Press's goal securing their group win. They showed to be much more dominant on home ice than on the road, and we'll see if that's a factor against KalPa, who will be no pushovers.

KalPa were one of the more remarkable stories during the group stage, needing to win both of their last two games against the Vienna Capitals in regulation, and then doing it, which is why they're here now. They started with a pair of losses to Skelleftea AIK – 2-1 in Finland and then 4-0 in northern Sweden. In the first game against Vienna, at home, they trailed 1-0 halfway through the third and faced elimination before rallying for three late goals. They then scored another 3-1 win in Vienna to punch their ticket onward. Will their momentum carry them against Djurgarden, or with their troubles with Swedish teams resurface?

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