SaiPa Lappeenranta defenceman Johan Larsson had two points in his first seven CHL games and six points in 19 Liiga contests. In Tuesday's second-leg win over Genève-Servette, however, he broke out in a big way with four assists, helping his team advance to the quarter-finals

by Kalle Matere

LAPPEENRANTA – Genève-Servette carried a 2–0 lead into the second leg of their series against a SaiPa Lappeenranta club that has struggled to score recently. In this game on their home ice, however, SaiPa scored four times and, with a 4–2 lead after 60 minutes, forced overtime and finally a shootout, where they won the series. The main catalyst for SaiPa's offence this game came from the back end, as defenceman Johan Larsson assisted on all four goals in regulation time – two of which came on the power play. With the win, SaiPa advances to the quarter-finals of the Champions Hockey League against Kärpät Oulu.

Johan, You faced an uphill battle this game starting with a two-goal deficit. You didn't get the aggregate lead until the final 10 minutes but then they tied it again. 
The game was tough for us, but we kept playing our offence and it paid off in the end.

You were shut out in the first game of the series and have struggled scoring recently. Today you knew you needed to score. What was working?
Yes we have struggled at times in the Finnish league and when you don't score, hockey is the worst game in the planet. As soon as we got to scoring and the team got their legs moving, we showed that we can be one of the top eight teams in Europe.

You were a big part of the offence with four assists. Have you had a four-point game before?
I think I had a four-point night a few years back with HPK Hämeenlinna. I think I scored two goals and had two assists that night.

How difficult was it for the team to bounce back in overtime after you were so close, but then gave up the goal in the final minute?
Of course it's tough when you have the lead and the opponent comes back with a last-minute goal. I think deep down we knew that we were the better team and special praise goes to Jussi (Markkanen), who saved us during the overtime and shootout.

Finally, with four goals this game, do you think the team's offensive woes are finished? What do you think was the reason for the struggles? 
When the puck just doesn't bounce your way, your confidence goes down and we've had a couple of those games in the Finnish league heading into this series with Genève. It's not easy to get over with, but this win is exactly what we need.