- Lukko advance and now look to next week as a chance to top Group C
- Cardiff knocked out of playoff contention
- Four-point night for Arttu Ilomäki
Lukko Rauma would book their place in the Round of 16 with an emphatic win against the Cardiff Devils who fell out of playoff contention
After a cagey start, that saw a lot of puck possession for the hosts, but not much in the way of offence, Lukko would finally break the deadlock after a pass from the wing by Scott Pooley found the stick of Noel Pietilä, who deflected the puck in at the back door to open the scoring right at the midway point of the period.
Just moments later, they'd add a second as Arttu Ilomäki punished the Devils who were slow after a turnover, as Ilomäki was fed the puck on a quick two-on-one with himself and Pooley who grabbed his second assist of the night.
Cardiff did have a chance late on, but Brodie Dupont couldn't find the right move to either shoot or pass after what could have been a costly turnover by the hosts, and Lukko Rauma carried a 2-0 lead into the second period.
The two sides traded early goals in the second. Firstly Kristian Pospisil danced his way to the slot and fired home the hosts third of the night, but the Devils responded less than a minute through the team's top scorer Cole Sanford, but as the Devils found themselves on the penalty kill shortly after, Lukko made them pay to make it a 4-1 game through Vili Saarijärvi to finish off three goals in 63 seconds between the two sides.
After a frantic start to the period, neither team could continue the scoring through the middle of the action, the Devils found a break just after the midway point, Josh Waller went in two on one into the zone, and elected to take the shot himself, which proved to be the right choice as he scored his first ever CHL goal to make it a 4-2 score line at the end of the second.
The Devils started to find their form in the third period, putting more shots towards net than in the previous two periods, but there was just no beating Lassi Lehtinen who stood tall, denying any chance the Devils had of clawing one back, and as Lukko sealed victory with an empty netter by Saarijärvi's second, that sealed the win and their passage through to the Round of 16, while knocking Cardiff out of contention to progress any further in this years competition.