Gustaf Lindvall stopped all 29 shots he faced as Skellefteå AIK defeated Kärpät Oulu 2-0 in this battle of two giants from the north. Kärpät lost a chance to secure a spot in the playoffs, while Skellefteå inch closer to qualification and now sit in top spot in Group E.

Adam Pettersson opened the scoring at 11:26 when he took a pass from Albin Eriksson and fired a perfect wrist shot to the top corner over Patrik Rybár’s glove - the only shot to beat either goalie in the game. Later in the period, Skellefteå had a chance to double their lead on the game’s first power play, but Rybár denied Robin Alvarez in close.

Buoyed by a couple of power plays, Kärpät pushed hard for the equalizer in the second period, with great chances by Sami Anttila, Jesse Puljujärvi and Shaun Heshka but they couldn’t beat Lindvall.

After killing off a penalty early in the third period, Kärpät tried to mount some more offence but Skellefteå defended vigorously, not giving an inch. Even with their goalie pulled in the last couple of minutes, Kärpät spent much of the time retrieving the puck in their own zone. An empty-net goal by Tommy Pyatt with just two-tenths of a second to play made it a 2-0 final.