Luleå Hockey engineered a one-goal advantage ahead of their Return Game against EV Zug when Ben Tardif registered the go-ahead goal at 35:23 of last week's contest in Switzerland. Zug's Tomáš Tatar closed the goal gap in the third, but the Swiss were unable to find the equaliser before the final horn sounded. Now, 60 minutes separate the Swedes from their third Champions Hockey League Final appearance and their second in three seasons, while for Zug, it's an all-or-nothing chance to make it to their first-ever CHL Final in nine CHL seasons.

The First Game was as close is it could have been. Both netminders were terrific throughout the game, but Heikki Liedes was able to draw first blood when he pushed the Swedes into a one-goal lead by the end of the first set of 20. Zug responded in the second, but the visitors were able to notch two tallies before the end of the frame, while the home team of the Semi-Finals First Games got at least one back in the final frame.

Readying for the Return Game with Zug, a team currently sitting in seventh place in Goals For with 3.09 per game, the Swedes' defence will be the taking on the lion's share of the responsibilities, but that doesn't mean their foot should be off the gas pedal when it comes to generating offensive chances.

Joel Lassinantti did a stellar job between the pipes last week and will most likely need to hold the fort once again against a Swiss team that's been lights out in the scoring department in this year's Playoffs.

For Zug, being behind in a Playoff series is nothing new. In their Quarter-Finals series against Lukko Rauma, the Swiss were trailing by two before coming back to score three tucks of their own all the while blanking their Finnish opponents. 

As they get set to travel to Sweden, the onus is on Zug to find the match's first marker, though history has shown that they're more than up to the task. Of course, this strategy starts up front where they've got a solid assembly of talent in the forms of Grégory Hofmann (5G, 7A), Dominik Kubalík (5G, 6A), and Tatar (5G, 3A) all of whom have been capable of answering the call when needed.