After advancing to last year’s Final, Tappara Tampere are off to the Champions Hockey League Quarter-Finals this season after drawing HC Davos 2-2 on home ice to win by a single goal on aggregate.

Looking for an offensive spark, Davos came out firing and outshot Tappara 15-7 but Christian Heljanko and his mates shut out the Swiss side for a fourth consecutive period. Through the first 35 minutes of the Return Game, each team had two powerplays but the game remained scoreless, and Tappara continued to hold a razor-thin one-goal advantage on aggregate.

Late in the middle frame, Davos turned up the heat and Matěj Stránský – the team’s top scorer domestically who had their best scoring chance in the First Game – rang a one-time shot off the goalpost. On the following sequence, they finally broke through and it was Stránský from the end boards sending a backhand pass out front to Enzo Corvi, and in one motion he swept the moving puck past Heljanko with 1:33 to play in the second period.

But the aggregate score didn’t stay tied for long. Early in the third period, Tappara responded with two goals in 24 seconds to put themselves firmly in the driver’s seat.

Tappara went to the powerplay for the third time in the game. Under pressure in the Davos zone for two full minutes, goaltender Sandro Aeschlimann lost his skate blade and couldn’t regain his footing in the crease, and that gave Valtteri Kemiläinen the chance to score on a one-time slapper just five seconds after the penalty’s expiry.

Tappara went right back to the attack and scored again to take a two-goal aggregate lead, as Oskari Luoto pounced on a loose puck in the slot and put a shot over a sliding Aeschlimann on his forehand.

Things went from bad to worse for Davos when Michael Fora went off for tripping, but it was Corvi to the rescue again, scoring on a shorthanded breakaway with 11:13 to play to bring them back within one.

Aeschlimann went to the Davos bench for a sixth attacker with just over a minute to go and they did generate a dangerous chance when Stránský was set up for another one-timer, but Heljanko kicked that away and Tappara held on for the victory.