Four-time Champions Hockey League qualifiers Genève-Servette had a stunning start to their Quarter-Finals debut taking a 4-1 win over Swedish giants the Växjö Lakers. An unusually lacklustre first period by the Swedes saw them go three goals down early on putting them on the backfoot, a position they'd never recover from.

It was a quieter night than normal for netminder Robert Mayer who made five saves to bring home the win for his side and secure a valuable three-goal lead on aggregate heading into the Return Game.

It was a dream start for the Swiss hosts who picked up powerplay goal number one early in the opening minutes of the first period. A backhander from Valtteri Filppula released from the slot had the low blocker side of Adam Åhman beat, and less than a minute later a wristshot from 23-year-old defenceman Tim Berni would make it 2-0. 

Växjö forward Robert Rosén had one of the best chances halfway through the period, but he was narrowly squeezed out of a wrap-around chance by Mayer.

As the Swedes struggled to find their rhythm, Genève hit full stride, taking advantage of the momentum. Top scorer Tanner Richard got the inside lane on Växjö's defence, securing goal number three of the evening at 18:53 to extend the lead of the home side to 3-0. The period would close with the Swiss outshooting Växjö 10-5.

With a hefty deficit to claw back from the Swedes were in a tight position. A tripping call on Sami Vatanen gave Växjö their first powerplay of the evening but that was successfully killed off. 

An interference call on Rosén opened the gate for goal number four of the evening, this time off the blade of an unassisted Vincent Praplan who scored with a mere second left on the powerplay.

The third period would see the team from Växjö battle hard along the boards, and send in more than a handful of shots from the perimeter, while the Swiss boxed out and blocked any decent angles for the visitors.

The combined defensive efforts of the hosts were superb, while Mayer was in fine form, gloving down every puck sent in by the Swedes, including a huge save off a turnover on the blueline. Every play was met with a Swiss counter-attack, further whittling down the available offensive time.

As the clock ran down into its last five minutes the efforts of Växjö would finally be rewarded. At 57:59 a puck sent in by forward Manuel Ågren would bounce in the slot of Mayer, and be hammered top-shelf by Växjö forward Tobias Rieder. With their foot firmly on the pedal, the Swedes pushed hard to close the gap further but would run out of time. The game would close 4-1 in favour of Genève.

While the Swiss team may have scraped their way to their current position, this evening's game was a case of textbook execution which places the team in a strong position ahead of the all-deciding Return Game in Sweden next week.

As Växjö make the trip back home, they're going to need to strategize and come up with a monumental 60 minutes if they're to keep alive any hopes of a CHL Semi-Finals appearance.