Frölunda Gothenburg scored three unanswered goals in three minutes in the closing half of the third period to claim a 5-2 win over Leksands IF in the First Game of their Quarter-Finals series.

A four-goal first period set the tempo to this tightly contested affair between two of Sweden’s best. 

Two tallies came in quick succession near the midway mark of the opening frame. First, the hosts scored when Carter Camper circled behind the net and found Max Veronneau in the low slot who fired it home to open the scoring.  

Frölunda responded in kind 34 seconds later when they drove in the equaliser off a quick up-ice rush. Max Friberg dished a cross-ice feed to Jens Olsson who slid it to Patrik Carlsson who lifted it high blocker past Axel Brage.  

Olsson found himself on the scoresheet for a second time when he received a pass from Johan Sundström, skated behind the Leksand defence and calmly wristed one over Brage’s blocker. 

The home side got themselves back into it when Lian Bichsel netted his first of the tournament at 18:17. The 17-year-old received a beautiful touch pass from Benjamin Thomas, corralled the puck to his forehand and let go to knot it at 2-2, leaving the sides tied with one period in the books.

Leksand killed off a penalty 5 minutes into the second and then quickly went to work occupying the offensive zone for long stretches, but Matthew Tomkins did his best brick wall impression and kept the hosts at bay. Brage made several key saves of his own to keep the game level through 40 minutes.

After 2 periods, Leksand were outshooting Frölunda 26-13 but the score remained the same.

Frölunda's Ryan Lasch had his best opportunity of the game 8 minutes in when he skated down the wing and wristed one on net but Brage flashed the pad to prevent the chance and keep the score tied at 2.

Leksand went on their first powerplay of the night at 48:31 but couldn't muster much of anything. Adding insult to injury was Stefan Elliott's marker to give the visitors their second lead of the evening with seven minutes to go.

The team from Gothenburg extended their lead just over a minute later when Patrik Carlsson pounced on a rebound for his second of the contest. Elmer Söderblom made it 5-2 with a quick wrister from between the circles, and with that, Frölunda manufactured three unanswered goals in the span of three minutes.

Unable to find an answer, Leksand head into the the Return Game down by 3 on aggregate and will look to bounce back when they make the trek to Frölundaborgs Isstadion next week.