- Luleå have qualified for their third CHL Final
- Zug's offence had its moments, but failed to convert on several opportunities
- Brendan Shinnimin, Isac Hedqvist each had goal and assist for the Swedes
With their 6-4 aggregate win over EV Zug, Swedish challengers Luleå Hockey are advancing to their third Champions Hockey League Final and second in three seasons. Brendan Shinnimin and Isac Hedqvist each had a goal and an assist for the hosts and Joel Lassinantti managed to make 24 saves on 26 shots.
Nearly seven minutes into their affair, Hedqvist extended his side's aggregate lead when he redirected Shinnimin's shot into the net. Play began with Shinnimin springing Brian O'Neill, who then passed it back to the forward, who shot it from the slot towards the net, where Hedqvist was parked and able to deflect it past Leonardo Genoni.
Pontus Andreasson made the hill even higher for Zug to climb when he cashed in on the powerplay. Oskari Laaksonen received a drop pass before sliding it on his backhand through a defender and towards Andreasson, who teed up the one-timer and let it fly past the glove of the netminder.
Then in the second, it was Shinnimin finding himself on the scoresheet again as he redirected a puck past Genoni for his club's third straight of the night. Oscar Engsund had his head up as he fired a shot low towards the goal with Shinnimin there to poke it home and make it 6-2 on aggregate.
The Swiss would respond a minute later when Tomáš Tatar connected with Grégory Hofmann on a give-and-go to cut into the lead. Hofmann intercepted the puck just inside the blue line, where he found Tatar, who then slid it right back as Zug found their first of the night.
They then lit the lamp a second time when Tatar orchestrated a brilliant individual effort dipsy-doodling around a defender before backhanding it on net and then claiming his own rebound and putting it past Lassinantti to notch his second point of the fixture.
With a little over three left in regulation, Zug opted to pull their netminder in favour of the extra attacker. This ultimately proved uneventful for the Swiss despite their best efforts as Luleå defended well in their own zone and managed to stave off their opponents' attempts at making a game of it late in the frame.