They’re coming home to Gävle, but even so, Brynäs IF have their work ahead of them if they want to overcome a two-goal deficit against Oceláři Třinec, who have been very difficult for anybody to score against this CHL season. If they want to do it, they have to convert their chances better than they did in Třinec.

“We had the lead in the second period and had some great chances to make it 2-0 or even 3-0,” Brynäs head coach Tommy Sjödin said after his team’s 3-1 loss in the first game. “Then they pushed back in third period and our defensive coverage wasn’t very good – two of those goals were pretty easy for them.”

To score, Brynäs will have to solve a goalie who has been brilliant all season, and made several brilliant saves against them in game one.

“Some of the saves that look ordinary are bigger than the fancier ones,” Šimon Hrubec said after his 29-save performance last Tuesday. “It’s difficult to say what the next game’s gonna be like, but I think they’ll try to start fast and put us back on our heels.”

Since last Tuesday, the Steelers have only played once – a 1-0 overtime loss in Jihlava on Friday, in which Hrubec stopped the first 23 shots he faced. They currently sit fourth in the Extraliga. Brynäs, meanwhile, came up with two confidence-building 6-1 and 6-0 wins over Lulea in SHL action, helping them rise to ninth in the standings.