In an evenly-played game in Linkoping, Skelleftea AIK did themselves a huge favour by scoring a 2–1 road victory. They now take a one-goal lead home, where they have yet to lose a CHL game.
Linkoping HC 1–2 Skelleftea AIK
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by Derek O'Brien, quotes from Julia Bjers
LINKOPING – It was a game between two solid Swedish teams and in the first leg of this quarter-final they were as evenly matched as you can get. Both goalies – Marcus Hogberg of Linkoping HC and Erik Hanses of Skelleftea AIK – made 29 saves, but Skelleftea put one more shot on goal.
In the eighth-final round, Skelleftea overcame a one-goal deficit from the first leg on the road and won it at home, so Linkoping knew it was very important to win this game and take the lead up north. They got the first goal less than five-minutes in when Broc Little converted on a clear-cut breakaway, sliding the puck through Hanses' legs. Skelleftea tied it late in the opening period, however, when Sebastian Aho converted a nifty pass from Par Lindholm and beat Hogberg upstairs.
Aho described, "I won the puck in our own zone, made a pass up to Sunken (Oscar Sundqvist) and actually didn't think anything other than just to follow up in the attack but I ended up getting a great pass by Par, so I just had to put the biscuit in the basket."
There was only one more goal after that and it came with only 14 seconds remaining in the second period, when Sundqvist managed to bat home a bouncing puck in the crease for his second point of the game.
"It was quite fun to score a goal even if it was more like a soccer goal," Sundqvist joked afterward. "A few guys kicked around that puck but it was fun. Every goal counts. I was in the right place at the right time."
"I think we played good in the beginning, then they came out and took over in the second period," said Linkoping defenceman Jonas Junland. "A couple of bad penalties and we got off our game a little bit. Then they went up 2-1 and we had to play from behind and the puck didn’t bounce in."
Linkoping missed a chance to salvage at least a tie from their home game in the dying seconds of the third period when Jakub Vrana jumped on a rebound and had Hanses beaten but fired high.
"Against a good opponent we played a good road game," Skelleftea coach Hans Walsson. "We have a good score for the second game. Our goal before the game was to have a good score for the second game in Skelleftea for a chance to get to the semi-final, and that's where are we now."
Linkoping now know they really have their work cut out for them, needing a win in Skelleftea against a team that is especially stingy at home, but trailing by only a single goal, it is certainly within the realm of possibility.
"It’s not that bad to go to Skelleftea one goal down," said Junland. "It’s not two games but one long game. It feels good. We felt strong. They can lead the series and feel like they're comfortable. The pressure'd on them, not on us!"