Luleå HF v HV71
HV71 were the only team in the top five of the SDHL who did not manage to beat Luleå in the regular season. But they showed no fear for the current champions and refused to lie down in any of the three games.
In the first match in Luleå the home team went ahead 3-0 in the first 16 minutes but the visitors refused to capitulate. Scoring a goal in each period they levelled with Luleå with 4:12 left on the clock. An upset seemed possible as the game went into overtime, but with the home team on the Power Play, Finnish Olympian, Noora Tulus scored the game winner goal. With her assist on Tulus' goal, fellow Finnish bronze medalist, Ronja Savolainen became the third Luleå player to score a Gordie Howe hattrick this year.
In the second game in Jönköping, HV took their confidence from that game with them and for first time in the series lead the champions 2-1 at the beginning of the third period. The final 20 minutes of the game produced four goals. First, Luleå HF served up a double punch l as they netted twice in 47 seconds to take the lead, 2-3.
With just under 10 minutes to go, last year's top forward, Finn, Michelle Karvinen found the net to take the champions, 2-4 ahead. But three minutes later she would be sent to the penalty box for Roughing and Lina Ljungbolm, the 17 year old taken in by HV71 just for the playoffs scored her second goal of the game and third of the series with under five minutes to go. But it would not be a hometown victory and Luleå again won a close fought game, 3-4.
The third game started like the first with Luleå HF putting in four goals past the home team in just over 16 minutes of play, two of which were scored the power play. But HV never lost sight of their goal and produced a disciplined second period, giving away only one penalty and scoring two goals to go into the third period only 2-4 down.
But discipline would again be HV71's undoing as Noora Tulus netted her second power play goal of the match after only 1:33 of the final period played. Luleå would later finish off the game with an empty net goal to take the match 2-6 and the series 3-0.
Luleå's forwards, Emma Nordin and Michelle Karvinen now lead the postseason scoring with 13 points each.
@ABritOnThinIce1
