As expected, Djurgarden Stockholm pressed hard offensively, but only scored twice. After giving up an early goal to trail by three on aggregate, that wasn't enough, and KalPa advance. Read more in Gamecentre. 

by Csaba N. Devai, with contribution from Jakob Meijer

Djurgarden Stockholm were unable to score against KalPa Kuopio in the first game, so the Swedes had to face being down by two goals on aggregate. However, the crowd at Hovet Arena had to witness a great number of KalPa chances besides those of Djurgarden. 

At 8:30, the visiting team had a two-on-one opportunity, but goalkeeper Adam Reideborn kept the score tied with a huge save. Five minutes later KalPa made fools of the home defence with a few smart passes, and not even Reideborn was able to prevent the away team from scoring. Jesse Mankinen passed to Balazs Sebok, who centred the puck and Tommi Jokinen helped it into the wide-open net. After taking the lead, KalPa had a few chances on the power play, but thanks to the home team’s defending, Djurgarden were able to keep it a close game.

The importance of their solid defence was represented only 3:11 into the second period, when KalPa were shorthanded. Mikko Kouse released a slap shot with huge traffic in front of the goalie, and the puck found its way to the net. After being able to equalize, Djurgarden weren’t able to put pressure on the away team’s goal, meanwhile KalPa knew that all they needed was solid defence to win this game. As a result, there weren’t many chances created by the teams, they headed to the final period with a 1-1 score, and with KalPa still ahead by two on aggregate.

The last period took off the way as everyone suspected: Djurgarden shot from every position, every angle, but Eero Kilpelainen was the final destination of all their attempts. Nearing the end of the game, Djurgarden started to put all of their energy into attacking, but they couldn’t convert their chances into goals, even on the power play. 

“I played okay,” Kilpelainen said after the game, “but I think we played pretty well as a team too. Even though Djurgarden where kind of pressing hard, we played smart and stuck with our game plan.”

Five minutes before the end, KalPa were leading 3-1 on aggregate, but they took a high-sticking penalty which meant the last chance for Djurgarden. The home team pulled the goalie and the risk paid off – with 2:30 left, Jeff Tambellini scored on a rebound. His goal put the game up for grabs, but Djurgarden weren’t able to complete their comeback in the time remaining. 

KalPa head coach Pekka Virta summed up, "Of course the last period was very tough because we took too many penalties. It was a fast game and I think we played pretty well 5-on-5. Fortunately, we had good penalty-killing, scored another power-play goal, and in total we won."

KalPa advanced to the next round with 3-2 on aggregate but the passionate, dramatic finish of the game made it a memorable night for the crowd.