A late tally from Elias Rosén was enough to give the Växjö Lakers a 2-1 edge, and one-goal aggregate lead, over Sparta Prague in a Champions Hockey League Quarter-Finals contest that featured a steady diet of sound defence from each side.

Both netminders were excellent in the opening frame as Växjö's Adam Åhman and Sparta's Josef Kořenář, who was suiting up for his first Playoff contest, stonewalled their opponents' chances to keep the score 0-0.

Växjö were awarded the only powerplay of the period when Valtteri Kemiläinen was called for high-sticking, but Sparta's PK, which killed off seven of eight man-advantages in their Round of 16 series against Oceláři Třinec, maintained its form against the Swedes.

Then in the second, it was Sparta breaking the deadlock when new signing, and former Genève-Servette forward, Michael Špaček tracked the puck to the top of the crease and lifted it over the left pad of Åhman to give the hosts a 1-0 lead at 34:46 and pick up his 13th point of the current CHL season.

Three minutes later, however, the visitors evened things as Växjö forced their way onto the scoreboard when Sebastian Strandberg cleaned up a rebound in front of the net to make it 1-1 on aggregate. Kořenář denied the initial chance as the puck pinballed around in the blue paint before Strandberg slotted it home for his first of the campaign.

The visitors would go on to take their first lead of the series at the 58-minute-mark when Sparta's mismanagement of the puck led to the Swedes gaining possession. Félix Robert found a wide open Rosén who let one go from the slot to give his team a slight advantage heading into the Return Game.