Both teams entered the game with perfect records and it nearly needed overtime to settle, but a goal by Arvid Lundberg with 21 seconds remaining in regulation time gave Skellefteå AIK a 3-2 home-ice victory over Genève-Servette.

Genève struck first just 2:12 in off the rush. Marco Miranda dropped to Vincent Praplan, who picked the top corner with a deadly wrister from the slot.

But late in the opening frame, Skellefteå took advantage of the CHL’s penalty rules, scoring twice on the same powerplay to tie the score and take the lead. Just nine seconds into the man advantage, Oscar Lindberg’s high point shot found its way passed a screened Stéphane Charlin. Then with 18 seconds left in the powerplay, Valter Lindberg found Hudson Fasching at the faceoff dot, and his wrister beat Charlin over the glove.

Both teams had chances in the middle frame but Skellefteå had the lion’s share of shots, and it remained a one goal game heading into the final period mainly due to the goaltending of Charlin. Early in the third period on a Genève powerplay, it was Skellefteå getting the best scoring chance but Charlin came up big on a shorthanded 2-on-1.

Skellefteå was doing a good job of keeping the puck away from the dangerous Genève shooters until a turnover led to a 3-on-1, with Noah Rod teeing up the Simas Ignatavicius one-timer for the equalizer.

Skellefteå had a chance to regain the lead on a late powerplay. They didn’t, but with overtime looming, they continued to press, Charlin made a save off a shot by Rickard Hugg, but the puck wound up on the stick of Lunberg, who buried it from the high slot with 21 ticks left.