Tappara Tampere staved off a tenacious Växjö Lakers team as the Finns claimed a 2-1 win over the Swedes in this battle in Scandinavia. 

Christian Heljanko needed to be on point and he was, as the first period ended with both sides remaining scoreless despite Vaxjo heavily outshooting the Finns 11-4. 

Second period play picked up and the Swedes continued to put the pressure on and it eventually paid off. Tappara's Aapeli Räsänen was called for slashing and Joel Persson converted on the ensuing powerplay, giving Växjö the lead three minutes into the middle frame.

Late in the frame, Tappara were still looking for an answer and eventually found it while down a man when William Wiå secured his second of the season. The 27-year-old made good on an assist by Räsänen to even things at 1-1 at 34:32.

A minute into the third, it was the Finns taking their first lead of the night courtesy of Joachim Blichfeld, who lit the lamp for his second of the season.

Blichfeld's would eventually be the game winner as the Swedes were unable to find an answer before the end of Regulation as Växjö dropped to 1-2 while Tappara gained ground in the standings and improved to 2-1 on the season.