After begrudgingly giving up a three goal lead in the first leg, Skellefteå AIK received a warning loud and clear from Storhamar Hamar, who entered the fixture proudly as underdogs. Now arriving as visitors, Storhamar will travel to the Skellefteå Kraft Arena with an even bigger challenge in their path if they’re to go behind in a similar manner to the way they did previously.

The home side will welcome the visitors having climbed three places in the Swedish Hockey League after winning as many games on the trot. Two of the victories have come over fellow tournament teams Frölunda Indians and the Malmö Redhawks, the latter of which they hammered nine goals past. They’ll hope to carry their momentum into this fixture, knowing that another no-show from their special teams could be detrimental to their chances of progressing further.

Storhamar Hamar won’t be in the comfort of their own arena this time around but will bring with them the spirit and determination that they showed in the final 30 minutes of the first encounter. They’ve played two games since then however, with a win and a loss both by a score of 3-2. The depth of their goal scoring ability in the first game, including two coming from further down the lines, could be what sways the match in their favour this time round.

Their CHL road form will need to be better though - in three games so far this season, the Norwegians were beaten by a combined score of 11-3 in Stockholm and Tampere before going on to come from behind and win in Třinec. Storhamar have defied the odds to stay alive thus far in the competition, but with no aggregate defecit to overcome it's simply a case of 'winner takes all'.