In a game where both teams were desperately looking for a win to get back in the race in Group E, Skellefteå AIK took a 3-0 lead, saw Eisbären Berlin come back to tie it, but got the only two goals of the third period. With the win, the team from northern Sweden is back in the pack.

The way the first few minutes went, it looked like Skellefteå would skate away with the game, dominating the early going and scoring twice in the first four minutes. First it was Rickard Hugg on the rush, using his left-hand shot from the right wing to pick the top corner over Mathias Niederberger’s glove. Then it was defenceman Adam Wilsby with a slapper from the top of the circle through a crowd that the German goalie didn’t see.

Skellefteå had some chances to add to their lead through the rest of the first period, but were either off-target with their shots or were denied by Niederberger, who was spectacular on the night after a rough start.

The home team did make it 3-0 at 24:03 on an interesting give-and-go between Stefan Loibl and Albin Sundsvik, where Loibl went straight to the net unaccosted and beat Niederberger with a great inside-out move. But if Skellefteå thought it would be an easy night, they were mistaken as the German visitors settled down and got themselves back into the game, just as they did Friday night in Tampere.

Berlin came back strong and were on the board just 51 seconds later on a low blast from the point from Nicholas Jensen through a crowd. And then 30 seconds later it was 3-2 off an attacking-zone faceoff, where Jonas Müller won the draw back to Giovanni Flore, whose shot bounced through Mann.

It was on a spectacular play from Fiore that Berlin tied it, leading the rush into the zone, getting knocked down but not giving up on the play, and lying almost flat on the ice getting the pass to top scorer Matthew White, who finished the play.

Skellefteå put on pressure at the end of the second period and a blast from Jonathan Pudas rang off the post with just five seconds on the clock.

After squandering a three-goal lead, Skellefteå meant business in the third and regained the lead five minutes in when Loibl went back to the point to Oskar Nilsson, whose low snapper was nicely tipped upwards by Adam Mascherin in front.

Berlin still had nearly 15 minutes to tie it back up but found it difficult mounting any kind of offensive, and taking two penalties along the way really stalled their attempts. They finally got a bit of pressure with their goaltender out in the last minute, but in the dying seconds, Nilsson fired the puck the length of the ice from below his own goal line and into the empty net to secure the win.