- Växjö's powerplay was key to their success
- Berlin outshot their opponents 28-25
- Adam Åhman stopped 27 of 28 shots
The Växjö Lakers orchestrated their first full points of this year's Champions Hockey League with a 3-1 win over Eisbären Berlin. Special teams came through in a big way for the Swedes who cashed in on two of their six opportunities to secure the victory.
A Gabriel Fontaine marker was the difference in an otherwise tight opening period between the Germans and the Swedes. Fontaine's first of the campaign came near the seven-minute mark when Eric Hördler dropped it off to the Canadian who powered his way down the near side before going backhand forehand and over the shoulder of Adam Åhman to open the scoring.
A shift in momentum occurred as the puck dropped for the second and Växjö found themselves with the man-advantage for the first time on the night.
First, Filip Eriksson evened the scoring at one apiece when he rifled a one-timer from point-blank range past Jake Hildebrand. Emil Sylvegård quickly made it 2-1 on a follow-up chance near the top of the blue paint to add another powerplay tally as the Swedes' special teams, which ranked fourth in powerplay conversion last season, gave Växjö their first lead of the night.
Both sides would take a pair of penalties to close out the period, but no more damage was done as the clubs entered the third stanza nearly identical in the shot department, with Berlin's 19 to Växjö's 18, while the Swedes maintained their one-goal lead.
Early in the third, the hosts saw their lead increase to two goals when a redirection from Dennis Rasmussen found its way into the back of the net 51 seconds into the final period. The 34-year-old skated to the top of the crease where he tipped home a Joachim Blichfeld feed to bring the score to 3-1.
Still trailing by two with five minutes to go, Berlin continued to try and claw their way back into it, but the Växjö did an excellent job of keeping their opponents' high-danger chances to a minimum. For his part, Åhman made several brilliant saves and managed to stop 27 of 28 shots to earn a sparkling 94.74 SV% and help his team to their first victory.