Game 1
Both defenseman Noah Welch and first choice keeper Viktor Fasth were unavailable due to injury for the Lakers.
But it didn't seem to make much difference to the home team, as they pressured Skellefteå AIK into uncharacteristic mistakes in their own zone which led to goals from former Portland Pirates (AHL) hard man, Brendan Shinnimin and then captain, Liam Reddox in the first period.
The pain continued in the second period for the northerners. They were unable to establish any form of attack whatsoever as Växjö's high forechecking repeatedly disrupted their play before they got anywhere near the Lakers' defensive area.
Then the home club turned up the skills level. First, a beautiful team goal as Joel Persson passed from behind his own the goal line along the right hand side to Pettersson, who entered the zone and chipped the puck delicately to Robert Rosén who shot to the right of Joni Ortio beating him on the narrow side for 3-0.
Then Elias Pettersson set up and scored the next goal. He took off and drove into the offensive zone with force, momentarily losing the puck as he squeezed through two defenders, only to receive back from team mate Shinnimin seconds later and set it firmly in the net. Magic!
4-0 after 40 minutes would have been unthinkable before the game. And the third period produce three more goals, not a classic Skellefteå comeback, but a total whitewash, as Andrew Calof, then Rosén, and finally, Daniel Rahimi all found the net destroying Skellefeteå 7-0 with second string keeper, Viktor Andrén, gaining a shutout.
Psychologically, after a victory which seemed to show an enormous difference between the two teams, Skellefteå must win their next game in their hometown to be in a shout of turning the series around.
@ABritOnThinIce1
