Luleå Hockey won the 2014/15 edition of the Champions Hockey League and took a strong step towards asserting themselves this season with a dominant First Game win in the Quarter-Finals, defeating Jukurit Mikkeli 5-1. Brendan Shinnimin scored twice for the victors and 21-year-old Matteus Ward made 14 saves in goal, improving his CHL record to 7-0. At the other end, Frans Tuohimaa stopped 27 of 32 shots for Jukurit.

Luleå opened the scoring early. Just past the two-minute mark, Shinnimin carried the puck into the Jukurit zone and fired a shot through a crowd in front that eluded Tuohimaa.

Luleå got a couple of chances to add to their lead in the first period but Tuohimaa made some big saves. They also got a couple of powerplays in the second half of the opening period but were unable to capitalise.

They finally did make it 2-0 early in the second period on Shinnimin’s second of the night. The Canadian forward took a pass from Carl Mattsson and beat the Jukurit goalie on a backhand deke.

Less than two minutes later, they very nearly made it 3-0 when a shot from Mario Kempe got in behind Tuohimaa with a Luleå forward crashing the net but, after a video review, it was ruled no goal.

Jukurit finally got their first powerplay as the game approached the midpoint but it ended quickly when Pekka Jormakka was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for elbowing. Luleå didn’t score on that advantage but added to their lead in the third.

In the third period, Jonas Berglund scored on a breakaway and Isac Brännström capitalised on a rebound after an attacking-zone face-off, and defenceman Jonathan Andersson picked the top corner on a late 5-on-3 advantage to give the team from northern Sweden a commanding five-goal advantage. Joni Jurmo broke the shutout for Jukurit with 1:22 remaining, but the Finnish team still faces an uphill challenge next week on home ice.