The Växjö Lakers played host to the Cardiff Devils in a rematch from last year, with the Swedish side needing to win to keep their hopes of advancing in the Champions Hockey League alive, while the Devils are already out of contention but were out to cause an upset.

Last year the two sides met in Group E action, with the teams sharing a win each, both winning in their own building, but after the Devils kept it close with a 3–2 scoreline at the Vida Arena last year they were out to prove it wasn’t a one-off.

Cardiff struck first as their top scorer and one of four new players to the side this year, Mike Hedden found himself streaking through on a breakaway, faking out Växjö netminder Viktor Andrén to tuck his effort five-hole to give the visitors a one-goal lead, only to see that lead disappear moments later after a great move from Pontus Netterberg saw him crash to the front of the net, waiting for his chance before tucking it past Ben Bowns in the Devils net to make it 1–1 just over 90 seconds later.

Just over five minutes later and despite being a man short on a penalty to Linus Högberg, Växjö grabbed their second of the game through Brendan Shinnimin streaming through on a breakaway and ripping a shot into the back of the net to give the hosts a 2–1 lead that lasted until the end of the period, and after a scoreless second period, saw the Lakers carry the one-goal advantage with just 20 minutes to play.

The Lakers came out strong in the third period knowing that if they dropped just one point they’d see their chance to qualify gone, but the Devils continued to battle, using their physical style of play to try and tie the game, and the strong performance of Bowns kept the side in it, and then with just under 15 minutes left to play, the Devils got an extended four minute powerplay to work with as the goal scorer Netterberg got a 2+2 penalty for boarding.

Matt Pope saw his effort stopped on a wide open look early in the powerplay, and Växjö looked impressive in their positioning, pushing everything to the outside and not allowing Cardiff to really get any clear shooting lanes, and anything that did get through to Andrén he managed to turn aside with ease and it took a great team effort by the Lakers to keep themselves ahead in the game, with Erik Josefsson making a crucial play late in the powerplay to deny Joey Haddad from a potential tap in at the back post.

After both teams ran into some penalty trouble in the closing stages of the game, Växjö looked like they couldn’t find away, but finally Vegas Golden Knights prospect Jonas Røndberg fired a quick one time shot to give the Lakers an insurance maker with less than a minute to go, keeping their hopes of advancing alive, but they’ll need help from SC Bern, because if Red Bull Salzburg get just a single point tomorrow night, it’ll be enough to stop Växjö from advancing just months after being in the CHL Final.