The first leg of this Quarter-Final in Northern Sweden was like two games in itself, as HC Pilsen built up a 3-0 lead midway the second period, but Skellefteå AIK came back with three third-period goals to put the teams on even terms heading into the return game in Western Bohemia.

After killing off a pair of early penalties, Pilsen opened the scoring on a great individual effort from captain Milan Gulaš at 11:20. After taking a pass from Matyáš Kantner, he managed to elude four Skellefteå back-checkers and beat Mantas Armalis with a perfectly placed backhander to the top corner.

A huge factor in the opening 20 minutes was Pilsen’s penalty-killing. Skellefteå got the first period’s only three powerplays but were not able to generate much offence from them. On the third powerplay, it did appear that Bud Holloway had tied the score. The Skellefteå players celebrated and the referee initially indicated a goal; however, replays showed that his shot from in close rang off the crossbar, with the top of Milchakov’s goal stick rippling the mesh in the roof of the net, which fooled everyone in the building.

Two Pilsen goals 3:05 apart in the first half of the second period put the visitors in the driver’s seat. First, Kantner stripped a Skellefteå defenceman of the puck just inside the blueline, then lost control of the puck as he tried to make a move but it still beat Armalis between the pads. Then Petr Kodýtek made it 3-0 at 28:22, knocking in a rebound after some sustained Pilsen pressure.

Skellefteå coach Tommy Samuelsson called a timeout immediately after the third Pilsen goal, and in retrospect, it was the turning point in the game. To that point, his team only had eight shots on goal but would finish the game with 36. Skellefteå responded to the timeout with their first real offensive push of the game. They were unable to beat Milchakov before the end of the second period, but Skellefteå started the third period strong and got themselves back into the game.

Milchakov made several big saves early in the third, but he was finally beaten at 47:25 on a wrister just inside the far post by Juhamatti Aaltonen off the rush from the right wing. The pressure continued and, five minutes later, Aaltonen made a brilliant move in the neutral zone to beat a Pilsen player and create a 2-on-1 break. Aaltonen fed Linus Lindström, who beat a diving Milchakov to make it 3-2.

Finally, with less than three minutes to play, they tied it up – Lindström took a pass at centre, skated into the Pilsen zone and ripped a wrist shot over the glove of Milchakov and in. Therefore, what could have been a nearly impossible situation for Skellefteå – heading on the road with a three-goal aggregate deficit – is now anybody’s game with a spot in the Semi-Finals at stake next week in Pilsen.