Battling against one of the top teams in Champions Hockey League history brings its own host of challenges, but for Luleå Hockey, who’ve had their own success in the pan-European competition, going up against Frölunda Gothenburg was a test they were ready for, even if the result wasn’t exactly what they had hoped for.
After giving up the first goal to the home side near the midway mark of the opening stanza, the visitors found their first marker six minutes into the second when Brendan Shinnimin made it a 1-1 contest as Luleå cashed in on their third man-advantage of the night.
An initial shot from Juhani Tyrväinen pinballed around in the crease before finding Shinnimin's stick who fired it into the back of the net. The goal was briefly reviewed for goaltender interference but stood.
"This is the championship. At the end of the day you don’t have many chances to win championships"Luleå Hockey's Brendan Shinnimin
A Joonas Rask goal would eventually give Luleå the lead, but unfortunately, the Swedes couldn’t hold off their hosts with Frölunda netting the equaliser with less than three minutes to go.
"It would have been nice to have it be 2-1,” said Shinnimin when asked about the outcome. The Canadian conceded, however, that in the grand scheme of things, the late tally doesn't really amount to much now.
“In the big picture, not really, but you kind of want to win every game, but in the big picture maybe it doesn't matter too much. But we have to win anyway at home so I think we’re in a really good spot, going home and giving ourselves a chance to make it to the Final.”
Part of the reason they’re in such a position is because of Shinniman’s team-leading sixth tally of the campaign which, according to him, is really a product of how his entire team competed.
“I think I just battled hard and competed hard. I think our line played hard, I think our team played well,” he explained.
For this goal to come on the man-advantage was an added bonus for the 32-year-old, who admitted: “Our powerplay has been struggling a bit this year so any time you can get some confidence and some powerplay goals it’s nice.”
Now heading back home, Luleå have a chance to close out the Return Game with better results in front of their home crowd. So far this season, the Swedes have been perfect on home ice, amassing 18 goals for while only giving up eight.
“We have some great fans, a lot of energy in the building,” said Shinniman, “this is the championship. At the end of the day you don’t have many chances to win championships.”
With an opportunity to make it to the CHL Final for the first time in eight years, Luleå are gearing up for their toughest battle of the season and are leaving nothing to chance.
“We’re going to come out with our best effort and there’s going to be a lot of energy back in Luleå - we’re looking forward to it!”
Luleå will host Frölunda for the Return Game of their Semi-Finals series in a game scheduled for Tuesday, 17 January at 18:05 CET.