As the lone Finnish team which successfully traversed the Round of 16, hosts Lukko Rauma are carrying the weight of Finnish hockey on their shoulders. Their Playoffs journey will continue when they suit up for the Return Game of the Champions Hockey League Quarter-Finals on home ice, with an important two-goal lead on aggregate over Czech team Dynamo Pardubice.  

The First Game saw Pardubice outshoot the Finns 39-21, the Czechs would also control most of the action from the face-off dots with 38 wins over 29, but there were two areas where Lukko pierced the armour of their opponents: their shot efficiency was better (29% compared to 10%) and overall defensive coverage. 

So how did this Finnish team manage to get the upper hand?  

Lukko’s top point-getters were on their game. Canadian forward Brayden Burke, who currently has eight points (5G+3A) in his seven appearances netted a goal, while Swedish forward Ponthus Westerholm, who is also in his first season with the Finns, continued his upward trajectory by netting the game-winner. 

Forward Tuuka Tieksola might have set off the fire alarm at the Enteria Arena because the 22-year-old Finn was on fire, collecting three points on the night. The entire third line of Lukko found their pace as evidenced by the fact that this line scored a whopping two-thirds of their goals on the night! 

25-year-old blueliner Tarmo Reunanen continues to be a point-per-game player for the Finns and leads time on ice on his bench, clocking an impressive 22:25 minutes per game on average. He picked up an assist in the last game and leads the defence with eight points (4G+4A).  

While it may not have been his finest performance, Daniel Lebedeff, who now ranks 11th among goalkeepers, made 35 saves on the night, good for a 90% save average, while overall his save percentage sits at a very respectable 92.61%. 

Czech Extraliga side Dynamo Pardubice in comparison faced a host of early netminding challenges. Three early goals before the ten-minute mark were enough to see netminder Milan Klouček step in for Roman Will. That exchange would mark the beginning of an equally tough night for Klouček who made eleven saves on the night and allowed three goals for a save average of 78.57%.  

Working double time to close the deficit, Pardubice can’t be faulted for maximum effort on offence with 68 shot attempts, while their second line had an outstanding night of their own, scoring three of the four goals that evening. 

Forwards Robert Kousal (3G+4A) and Lukáš Radil (4G+3A) who each have seven points over their respective appearances, both picked up a goal, along with defenceman Jan Košťálek (1G+3A), while Slovak blueliner Peter Čerešňák clocked the most time on ice by any player, with 23:27 minutes. The towering 30-year-old defenceman who is in his first year with Pardubice was a solid contributor picking up an assist, in addition to five shots on goal, to close the game with a +1 plus/minus contribution. He currently leads the defensive bench with eight assists over eight appearances, in addition to leading points overall for his side. 

On special teams, the side from Czechia, who are currently ranked fourth in the league for their special teams man-advantage prowess (at 23.68%), continued their strong powerplay performance by netting two goals, while Lukko lag behind with 13.89%. They’re also slightly better on the powerplay, but the Finns counter with strengths of their own including a better goals-per-game average (3.44 to 3.22), and goals-against-per-game (2.33 to 2.56). 

With the Finns in a strong position, Pardubice need to find the back of the net early to equalise the aggregate score. If they’re able to get under the skin of their hosts, and work their powerplay magic, this might crack a window open to get the edge over this team. For Lukko Rauma, success came off the back of an early and intense offensive effort which they’ll be looking to repeat.