Playing behind a team as offensively explosive as Frolunda Gothenburg, goaltender Lars Johansson knows that his team doesn't always need him to steal a game for them – but rather make the key saves at key times. While he wasn't particularly busy in his shutout win on Tuesday, he knows the time will come when he'll be called upon.

by Efraim Larsson

GOTHENBURG – For the second round in a row, Frolunda Gothenburg came home to play the second leg of a Champions Hockey League series trailing in the aggregate score. In the Round of 32, they were down 2 goals against ERC Ingolstadt but came back to win dramatically in overtime. This time against HC Litvinov the difference was only 1 and the ending was a lot less dramatic. After a scoreless first period, Frolunda took over the game in the second and skated away with a 6–0 win – 7–2 on aggregate – to advance to the quarter-finals.

While he wasn't a busy man in the game, Frolunda goaltender Lars Johansson was sharp when he needed to be, and stopped all 14 shots for the shutout. The 28-year-old, who's now in his third season with Frolunda, spoke after the game.

Lars, how would you describe your feelings after the game?

“It feels really great right now, obviously. We really wanted to advance to the next round so we were really prepared and pumped for this game. Great to see that we can play as good as we did today!”

What would you otherwise say about the game?

“Initially the game looked pretty much like the first game in the Czech Republic, where they played really tight, solid and didn't give us any space. But I think we played a lot quicker today with a lot of speed, especially after our first goal, where we skated much quicker. That forced them to take a lot of penalties in the end, when they didn't have the energy to keep up with us.”

What do you think about your own performance in the game?

“Well, maybe I sometimes wished I could have had a few more shots against and play a bigger role in the game, but on the other hand you're supposed to win the game and when you're on a team playing this well it feels kinda great, knowing that you'll win the game even if there's still a few minutes left on the clock. The games where I'll have to be more helpful and play a bigger role on the outcome come and go, so I guess my chance is around the corner. Great to shut them out, though!”

Lulea is waiting in the quarter-finals. What's your thoughts about that?

“A quarter-final series against Lulea will be tough! They have an interesting and great team with a lot of skilled players. Even though it of course can take a little while for a team with a lot of new players to get going, they have done it pretty well so far in the tournament. We faced them a lot last season (five times in the regular Swedish Hockey League regular season, once in the CHL Final and seven times in the SHL playoffs) and it will definitely be a tough, intense and possibly gritty couple of games and we will do everything we can to advance even further in the CHL!”

Watch the highlights of the Frolunda–Litvinov game below.