Tonight sees the second leg of the quarterfinals of this year's Champions Hockey League. And three of the four matches are very much in the balance after the first leg.
Frölunda v Brno
Only Frölunda Indians can say they have one foot in the semi finals after winning 4-1 away from home against Kometa Brno last week. The Swedes put the game to bed in the second period when they scored 3 goals in just 10 minutes. Gothenburg local, Patrik Carlsson gained four points on the night with 3 Goals and 1 Assist, the second of which came just 17 seconds into the second period. Then it was Norwegian Olympian, Mats Rosseli Olsen and Canadian Bronze medal Olympian, Chay Genoway who finished off the Czechs with half the match still to play. American Ryan Lasch picked up 3 assists on the night to become the competition's Top Scorer with 17 points (2G+15A).
Lasch, Carlsson and Rosseli Olsson have all won the CHL with Frölunda before and Brno will need to find something special in Sweden tonight if they are to stop the Indians' march towards another title.
The other three matches had dramatic third periods which leave all to play for in the final match.
Skellefteå v Pilsen
In the other Czech Republic v Sweden match, Skellefteå AIK were completely outplayed in the first two periods by visitors HC Pilsen and were down 3-0 at half way through the match. The scoring was opened at 11:20 by none other than Milan Gulas, who has played against tonight's opposition for four years for Färjestad BK and knows his opponents better than anyone else on the ice. When the 3-0 goal went in at 28:22, the Swedish manager Tommy Samuelsson called a time out and his "chat" with the players was recorded live on air.
But it was not so much this as his team talk in the pause before the third period that seemed to change the team. 2016 Calgary Flames drafted Linus Lindström has only scored one goal all season in the SHL*. But decided to buck the trend and score two goals in less than five minutes, sandwiched between 2003 St Louis Blues drafted, Juamatti Aaltonen's goal to leave the match at 3-3 at the final whistle. That sets up a winner-takes-all match tonight in the Czech Republic. I still favour Pilsen to maintain their unbeaten record in the competition, but if the Skellefteå who played in the third period turn up for the whole game it could be a very painful night for the home fans who will no doubt pack the arena tonight.
Malmö v Munich
The third and final Swedish team in the competition, Malmö Redhawks were away from home against Red Bull Munich. The first two periods lead to a 0-0 deadlock which was eventually broken in the third by the Swedes when their Danish striker, Frederik Störm scored with just under 15 minutes still to play in the match. The 3440 home fans were not disappointed though as Munich rallied, first scoring through 2005 San Jose Sharks drafted Derek Joslin less than two minutes after Störm to tie the game at 1-1. It was German Olympic Silver Medalist, Frank Mauer who would win the game for Red Bull when he slotted home the puck at 53:37 hardly given the Swedes time to reply. That leaves Munich in the driving seat with every chance of going through to the semi finals tonight in Malmö. However, I still favour the home side who are having an excellent season, currently lying only three points behind league leaders, Färjestad BK.*
Salzburg v Kärpät
In the final match of the first leg quarterfinals Red Bull Salzburg also took advantage of their Nordic opposition in the third period. The Austrian team took the lead early in the second period and doubled it again as the third period started, Canadian Brant Harris finding the net on both occasions. That give him the team's Top Scorer jersey for tonight's match.
But then it was the Finnish league leaders, Kärpät Oulu, who then replied with two to tie the game, the first of which was scored by their CHL top scorer, Swede Niklas Lasu. However, the home team were not to be denied, and with just 23 seconds left on the clock, Canadian John Hughes stepped up and knocked in the winner for the Austrians.
For me, my predictions from before the first round still stand and tonight's fixtures will be won by the home teams Frölunda Indians, HC Pilsen, Malmö Redhawks and Kärpät Oulu. They must win by a simple aggregate of the scores from the two matches and I think they will maintain the Nordic stranglehold which has dominated the Champions Hockey League since it's inception in 2014/5. If either of the Red Bull teams go through it will be the first time either Austrian or German teams have got to the semi final in the competition which has been won 3 times by Sweden and 1 by Finland.
*as of 07/12/18
@ABritOnThinIce1
