Five more teams advance to the Round of 16 – some more dramatically than others. The most stunning was Frolunda's late equalizer, followed by an overtime winner.
Frolunda Gothenburg 4–1 ERC Ingolstadt
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | FROLUNDA WIN 6–5 (OT) ON AGGREGATE
One of the more improbable results from the first leg was in Ingolstadt, where the hometown Panthers erased an early 2–0 deficit against last year's CHL finalists and beat Frolunda 4–2. They maintained their two-goal lead through 40 minutes in Gothenburg, tied 1–1, but Frolunda came alive in the third. They outshot Ingolsadt 14–2 in the period and scored twice – Elias Falth early and Lukas Bengtsson very late, on a one-timer just 11 seconds before his team would have been eliminated. Not to be outdone, Ryan Lasch scored an amazing goal in overtime on a brilliant individual effort to put Frolunda through to the next round.
“An incredible feeling. I love to score a goal, whether it's late or early in the game or somewhere in between, but of course a goal of this importance feels extra good to score,” Bengtsson said of his late equalizer. “It feels truly fantastic that we managed to turn it around to our profit and are advancing to the next round. Ingolstadt were shockingly good, to be honest, and played a really great game today as well. They didn't gave up any space at all and really torn us apart from neutral zone into their defensive zone.”
Storhamar Hamar 3–2 Red Bull Salzburg
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | STORHAMAR WIN 6–3 ON AGGREGATE
Storhamar had a tremendous advantage of starting with not only a three-goal lead, but also a boisterous crowd to cheer them on, and they extended the lead to four on a first-period power play. That lead held up into the third period, when the teams traded off goals, but by then everyone in the building knew that this team was making history by becoming the first Norwegian team to make the Round of 16. Jimmy Andersson (2 + 1) and Jacob Berglund (1 + 2) each had 3-point nights for Storhamar.
Stavanger Oilers 3–3 Eisbaren Berlin
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | BERLIN WIN 6–3 ON AGGREGATE
Coming into Stavanger with a three-goal lead, Eisbaren Berlin accomplished exactly what they needed to do, and that was play the Oilers even over a 60-minute hockey game. The two teams traded goals three times, which suited the visitors from the German capital just fine. Travis Mulock's buzzer-beating goal at the end of the second period was especially disheartening for Storhamar, restoring Berlin's three-goal cushion and deflating whatever momentum the home team had from two straight goals.
“We played a good game, the second period especially, but we didn’t put away our chances. The 3–3 goal was a big blow. We should have done better in that situation. All in all though I’m happy with what we’ve achieved in the CHL this year,” recapped Stavanger head coach Petter Thoresen, whose team barely missed the Round of 16 for the second straight year.
Vaxjo Lakers 3–3 Djurgarden Stockholm
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | DJURGARDEN WIN 7–6 ON AGGREGATE
After Djurgarden's one-goal win on home ice in Game 1, Daniel Brodin's power-play marker halfway through the second put them up two. However, Vaxjo carried the play in the second period and got two power-play goals of their own from Ilkka Heikkinen to even the score, and it looked like the reigning SHL champions had found their step. Djurgarden out-scored the Lakers 2–1 in the final 20 minutes, though, to even the game score and win on aggregate.
“It wasn’t the game we had planned from the start,” Djurgarden coach Henrik Eriksson began. “We would have wanted to control the game in a better way but we still managed to get a one-goal lead after the first period. In the second period Vaxjo took over and got a 2–1 lead heading into the third, where we got our speed back so we could control what was happening better. We score two goals and get to be in the driving seat. Unfortunately, they score their third goal to tie the game up and that caused some unnecessary nerves towards the end. This was a game that we perhaps aren’t 100 percent pleased with, but we are pleased that we moved through.”
“The first period wasn’t what we wanted it to be but in the last 40 minutes we acted with a lot better speed and power in our play. I like that and I think the team like that as well, that’s how we want to play hockey,” said Vaxjo coach Sam Hallam, who was able to take some positives despite the loss.
Linkoping HC 3–6 Bili Tygri Liberec
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | LIBEREC WIN 10–4 ON AGGREGATE
Possibly none of the 16 match-ups this round caused more head-scratching than this one between Liberec and Linkoping, which was absolutely dominated by Bili Tygri, the team most perceived to be the underdogs. Their dominance in the first period was especially commanding, scoring four times in the first period of each game. Michal Repik led Liberec with 2 goals and 1 assist, Petr Vampola had 2 assists, and Broc Little scored 2 goals for Linkoping, but by that time the score was well out of hand.
“I think that in both games we won the series in the first periods, with similar play in both games,” stated Liberec head coach Filip Pesan.
“I agree with Filip, and think that we lost this series in the both games first periods. I’m very impressed by Liberec and I wish them good luck henceforth. It was no question who was the better team between these teams,” responded Linkoping coach Dan Tangnes.