- Tappara Tampere will advance to the Final Four
- Tappara strike twice early in the second to take the lead
- Rouen outshot 53 to 18 with Matija Pintarič stopping 49
It was a straight shootout in Rouen between the Rouen Dragons and Tappara Tampere, neither side could take the advantage from the first game, but in the second game, Tappara would get the upper hand to book their place in the Champions Hockey League semi-finals for the first time in the teams history.
After a cagey start to the game, Tappara managed to get the upper hand in terms of offensive chances, but despite the shots in their favour they couldn’t convert after a mixture of some solid goaltending by Matija Pintarič, which included a huge save on the penalty kill in the last two minutes, as well as the defensive work by Rouen to take away second chances, resulting in a scoreless opening period.
After knocking at the door in the first 20 minutes, it didn’t take long for the visitors Tappara to finally get the go-ahead goal. Kyle Platzer received the puck on the left side, and held it for a moment before firing it low on net, beating Pintarič to make it a 4-3 score on aggregate.
A second followed quickly, a close shot by Samuel Salonen squeezed through the legs of Pintarič after Petteri Puhakka rounded the net and set him up with the chance.
Tappara continued to heavily outshoot Rouen, but with no further scoring in the second period, it meant Tappara took a two goal advantage on aggregate into the final 20 minutes.
In the third period, Tappara tried for the third but without success, but crucially they kept strong defensively, limiting any real scoring threat from Rouen, continuing to limit their shot totals.
In the dying minutes, with a two goal deficit to erase, Rouen pulled Pintarič in favour of the extra attacker, but as Mikael Seppälä found the empty net to make it 3-0 on the night, it put the game further out of reach with just over three minutes remaining, and then a fourth into another empty net by Charles Bertrand followed shortly after to secure the win for Tappara, with the Finnish side advancing to the Semi-Finals, while Rouen bow out after a great CHL season, and valiant effort in the Quarter-Finals.