Neither Tappara Tampere or the Rouen Dragons have ever reached this stage of the Champions Hockey League before, and after the first game it's still tied after a 3-3 draw in the first game.

With an early powerplay, it took just second for Tappara to convert, bringing the home fans to their feet in their brand new arena.

Kyle Platzer was the man with the puck, and as he tried playing the pass across the slot, it took a wicked deflection and ended up in the back of the net to give them the lead.

As Tappara continued to control most of the possession, it seemed like a second goal was imminent, and that came late in the opening period. A quick rush up ice, a drop pass and then a quick pass to the slot set up Waltteri Merelä to fire in a onetimer for Tappara’s second of the night.

Tappara's control was evident from the start of the second period, but they couldn't convert it into a third goal of the night, and eventually Rouen would get the break they needed.

A shot from the blueline by Florian Chakiachvili couldn't be gathered by Tappara goalie Christian Heljanko, and Loïc Lampérier was quickest to react in front, poking the puck over the line to make it a one goal game.

After finding themselves on the powerplay shortly after, Rouen found their equaliser, Rolands Vigners got the final touch after some great puck movement opened up lanes, and after Heljanko gave up a juicy rebound, he couldn't recover in time to stop Vigners from slotting in the visitors second.

With the game opened up after the fight back from Rouen, it took another powerplay for Tappara to regain the lead. Kristian Tanus fired a bullet of a shot from the right circle, leaving Pintarič little hope of stopping it to give the hosts the lead once more which they held onto heading into the third period.

As play resumed, Tappara had plenty of chances to re-open a 2-0 lead early in the third, but couldn't find a way past Pintarič or the Rouen defence who would have to stand tall to keep the hosts at bay.

The defence continued to frustrate and held Tappara at bay, and when Rouen got their chance, they took it. A great pass from Mark Flood sprung Andrew Johnston throw on a partial breakaway, and he pulled off a fancy move to bring the puck to his backhand and roofed it past the sprawling Heljanko to once again bring the scores level with a 3-3 score.

A late powerplay chance went unconverted for Tappara, and as the buzzer sounded, the scores were still level, setting up a fascinating second leg next week when the teams meet in France.