The quarter-finals will consist of four Swedish clubs and four from Finland. Lulea Hockey and Skelleftea AIK both scored shootout victories while Linkoping HC got a buzzer-beating goal to get past Sparta Prague. Skelleftea AIK and Karpat Oulu both held the leads they carried into the second leg.
Red Bull Salzburg 5–8 Lulea Hockey
Lulea win 10–9 (SO) on aggregate | WATCH highlights here
It was an absolutely wild game in Salzburg. Red Bull carried a two-goal advantage into their home half of the series and, when they scored three goals in the first 11 minutes of the game to take a five-goal aggregate lead, it looked like they had their ticket to the quarter-finals punched. However, Lulea rattled off six goals in a row – five in the second period and one midway through the third – to actually take the lead. Thomas Raffl scored his second goal of the game with 1:55 to play to send the series to overtime and then a shootout, but it was Lulea who prevailed, as Nicklas Fogstrom scored the shootout-winner to secure his hat-trick.
"We played five very good periods against Luleå Hockey but the one catastrophic period was ultimately our undoing," Salzburg captain Matthias Trattnig summized afterward for the club's website. "But that's what makes a good Champions League team. For sure we were able to score goals easily enough, but the complete breakdown in the second period is inexplicable. You're not going to win championships playing like that."
Frolunda Gothenburg 4–2 Tappara Tampere
Frolunda win 9–3 on aggregate | WATCH highlights here
Coming home with a four-goal aggregate lead, not many expected Frolunda to blow their quarter-final bid and indeed they didn't, winning 4–2. They built up a 3–0 lead after two periods before Tappara battled back in the third, but by then the series had been decided. Andreas Johnsson added two more points to his total and Mathis Olimb one, meaning the two linemates are now tied for the CHL scoring lead with 21 points each.
"I think we had problems setting up the intensity in the beginning, just like the first game against Tappara," said Frolunda head coach Roger Ronnberg. "I don't think we played good enough in the first period because we made a couple of bad and late decisions which caused us trouble. In the second period, though, we stepped up a bit and did what we needed to win the game."
Skelleftea AIK 4–2 JYP Jyvaskyla
Skelleftea win 8–7 (SO) on aggregate | WATCH highlights here
Time and time again in this series, JYP seemed to have victory in hand, and yet Skelleftea came up big in the third period both times and eventually forced a shootout, which they won. JYP held a two-goal aggregate lead into the final three minutes of regulation time, but Oskar Sundqvist scored a power-play goal and then Par Lindholm tied it with just 18 seconds left. It was Lundholm's second point in the game, while Andrew Calof led Skelleftea offensively with a goal and two assists. Jani Tuppurainen and Anssi Lofman had two points each for JYP.
Understandably, JYP coach Marko Virtanen wasn't in a talkative mood afterward, saying only, "The game was as tight as it could be. I'm disappointed, but we did what we could. We had our own chances but that's the way the game goes."
His Skelleftea counterpart, Hans Wallson, said it was a "great game. We found a way to win and it was really fun. Our first period wasn't good and JYP was the better team. We played a more conservative in the second period. In the third we played hard. We took the long way there but we did it."
Vienna Capitals 2–3 Karpat Oulu
Karpat win 6–3 on aggregate | WATCH highlights here
Karpat carried a two-goal advantage into the second leg in Vienna and, after a scoreless first period, increased their lead to three in the second as three goals were scored in a span of 4:26, and the Capitals were unable to reduce that in the third period. Ivan Huml scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 48th minute, but by then Karpat had the series well in hand.
Victorious coach Lauri Marjamaki said afterward, "It wasn't an easy game starting with the two-goal lead. But this is a big victory for us and all four lines did a great job."
"It was an unbelievable fast game against, not only a good team, but a great team. I am very proud of how hard my team battled," Vienna coach Tom Pokel said afterward, in praise of both teams. About the game, he said that his team "got a bit overexcited after the 1–1 goal and got away from the game plan in the second period. In the end we acomplished a lot in this CHL season and I'm certainly not happy about the result but proud of my team, and I wish Oulu good luck and all the best for the upcoming games."
Linkoping HC 2–2 Sparta Prague
Linkoping win 4–3 on aggregate | WATCH highlights here
With Sparta leading the game 2–1 and the series aggregate score tied late in the third period, it appeared overtime might be needed. But with a minute to play Sparta's Robert Sabolic had a glorious chance to win it but just missed on the backhand attempt. At the other end, with just two seconds on the clock, Jacob Micflikier banged home a loose puck in the slot to tie the game and win the series for Linkoping. Sparta got a goal in the game's first minute and it remained 1–0 after two periods, but the two teams exchanged goals near the middle of the third. For Linkoping it is a dramatic win and for Sparta a heartbreaking defeat.
"What can I say about this game?" a shocked Sparta coach Josef Jandac said after it was over. "I think my team played a good game but it was an unlucky break at the end and the luckier team is going on. We had some lineup problems in the home game because four of our players were unable to play due to injury. I think that's the main reason we're not going on."
"It feels great," said smiling Jonas Junland. "We played a solid two games and we had a good chance to win at home. We played pretty well except for the first 10 minutes today. It was a rough start but we know we're a pretty good team. We were especially good defensively and our goaltending was great."