The KalPa Kuopio faithful were treated to a satisfying victory in the Olvi Areena as the Finns delivered an 8-6 aggregate defeat to the reigning CHL Champions ZSC Lions Zurich to take this Round of 16 series and end the Swiss side's title-defence hopes. Stefanos Lekkas did an excellent job between the pipes, stopping 34 of 36 shots, and Veikka Mononen scored the eventual game-winning goal.

Cade Borchardt gave his club a one-goal aggregate lead when he opened the scoring at 16:12 of the first. Patrick Curry engineered the play when he gained control of the puck in the neutral zone and skated down the far walls before turning and dishing it to the trailing 27-year-old, who had plenty of space to pick his spot and wristed it from just above the hashmarks past Šimon Hrubec.

The floodgates opened in the middle frame for the Finns as they managed to stretch their aggregate lead to four goals.

Teemu Hartikainen struck first when he snuck one by Zurich's netminder off a one-touch pass from Jaakko Rissanen. Moments later, Mononen rocketed the puck over the right shoulder of Hrubec to give the Finns their third goal of the night and make it 7-4 on aggregate in their favour. Hartikainen would tack on another, this time on the powerplay, when he flicked one in from between the circles.

Patience paid off for the Swiss in the third stanza when Pontus Åberg slid one through the pads of Lekkas to reduce the deficit to three goals. Åberg received the pass before dancing around a pair of defenders and outwaiting an outstretched Lekkas to get his team on the board. 

Zurich opted for the extra attacker with over five minutes still to play and were able to cut into the deficit once more with a Dean Kukan tally. This would be it, however, for the visitors, as a disastrous second period was their undoing for a repeat chance of lifting the cup, while KalPa will continue their chase for the European Trophy in 2025/26.