- Hosts lead by a goal
- Lausanne only one 60-minute road win in CHL
- Luleå's unbeaten record ended on Saturday
It's only a one-goal head start for Luleå Hockey when they return to home ice against Lausanne HC in the Quarter-Finals.
The hosts are trying to make are trying to book their first place in the Champions Hockey League Semi-Finals since 2015/16, and do have the fallback of a one-goal cushion form a hard-earned win in Lausanne a week ago. Luleå finally saw their unbeaten streak ended after 10 games by Färjestad in the SHL this past weekend, but still have an impressive record of just two defeats in their last 18 starts in all competitions. Robin Kovacs was the hero in Lausanne with two goals, but it's still Arttu Ilomäki who wears the LGT Top Scorer's jersey.
Lausanne will know that getting the first goal in Sweden will be crucial, and given their away record in the CHL this season they won't want to be playing catchup from two or more behind. LHC have won only one game on the road this season in 60 minutes - the Round of 16 away leg in Pilsen - with the rest having hone to overtime or shootouts. To get this game that far, they'll have to be a goal better than their hosts over three periods.
Lausanne are on a three-game losing streak in their own league, although in two of them they've picked up a point. Again, however, it shows what an effort the side will need to turn around the deficit and at least force overtime.
The first goal scorer of the night was Joel Vermin with a short-handed goal at 3:15. 9% of users guessed correctly.