Skellefteå AIK headed home to host the Belfast Giants in their second duel. The Swedes managed to capture a 4-2 win in Northern Ireland last week, despite a strong fight by the Irish.

With just a minute into the opening period, Belfast’s Matt Foley was sent to the bin on a hooking call, followed by teammate Mark Cooper at the eighteen minute mark for tripping. Capitalising on the man advantage, Oscar Möller shot one into the net with Elias Salomonsson and Max Lindholm with the assist.

Five minutes into the second stanza Belfast got themselves on the board with Colby McAuley scoring the equaliser. The score wouldn’t stay tied for very long, as Filip Sandberg captured the next goal for Skellefteå at the 27:30 minute mark.

Tempers started to flare on both ends of the ice, with a corner scuffle resulting in Ben Lake being called for holding and Gabe Bast for hooking, giving Skellefteå a five-on-three advantage, but the Giants managed to kill the clock before the Swedes could widen their lead. 

The remaining minutes of the middle stanza brought back-to-back penalty calls on both sides, as tensions continued to rise, but Skellefteå held tight to their 2-1 led right up to the buzzer. 

The final period began with another penalty call against Belfast’s Chad Butcher for hooking, but this time Skellefteå were able to make something happen, with Linus Lindström snatching the second powerplay goal of the game. 

Scott Conway’s time in the bin for slashing would give the home team yet another chance to score with the man advantage, which is exactly what Filip Sandberg managed to do, resulting in his second goal of the game.

As fate would have it, Skellefteå wrapped up the Group Stage with a second win against Belfast and with the Swedes securing top spot in Group H!