It was a less than ideal start for hosts Fribourg-Gottéron, who took two early penalties in the first period, giving Leksands IF, the man-advantage, however, netminder Connor Hughes had it covered. Hughes was equally lucky not to be punished by the Swedes after a juicy rebound bounced into the slot, just tumbling over the stick of Benjamin Thomas.

Fribourg drew first blood half-way through the period, thanks to a shot from defenceman Ryan Gunderson, which was deflected off the stick of forward Samuel Walser, making it 1-0 for the hosts. 

Leksands landed a golden opportunity after defenceman Dave Sutter was sent to the bin for four minutes for high-sticking. But the extended powerplay went horribly wrong for the Swedes after Fribourg forward Daniel Brodin chipped the puck past a Leksands defender and wired the puck top right, past netminder Axel Brage, to extend the Swiss team's lead 2-0. 

Leksands nearly got one past Hughes mid-way through the second stanza but a sprawling save saw the puck guarded safely away from the line. A hooking penalty on Emil Heineman gave Fribourg their first powerplay of the game, and like Swiss-clockwork, a quick give-and-go saw Jordan Bougro chip the puck into the back of the net to make it 3-0, before ploughing into the boards.

With frustration mounting on Leksands, who had outshot the Swiss side after two periods, the third period was their last chance for retribution. 

At 49:34 Leksands got another powerplay opportunity, called a timeout to pull their goalie, and pushed to crack the zero on the scoreboard. Leksands had everything: zone-control, passes, shots on, and excruciatingly close opportunities on the doortstep of Hughes but were denied. Fribourg managed a handful of great chances inclduing a bullet by Gaétan Jobin off a quick turnover, but Brage was rock solid.

With the clock ticking down, Leksands' outstanding efforts, including a dominant third period went completely unrewarded. The Swedes outshot their opponents 36-16. The shutout was yet another sparkling performance by Hughes who has been a consistent and phenomenal performer for Fribourg.