If last week’s first game was a cagey affair, the return game between Djurgården Stockholm and Skellefteå AIK also got off to a slow start, with both teams knowing that a single mistake could be costly in this winner-take-all clash. Djurgården had the better of the early possession, and this pressure eventually told. Two tripping penalties a minute apart against Skellefteå gave the home club a two-man powerplay. Djurgården made them pay, working the puck from the point to the goal line, and Dick Axelsson made a fantastic play to open the score. He sold a cross-crease pass, before sliding the puck beneath Gustaf Lindvall from an almost-impossible angle.  

The second period was more of the same, as both teams struggled to create what you would consider to be grade A scoring chances. Lindvall was called into action to make a fantastic double stop on Djurgården’s forwards. Tempers also flared between Patrik Norén of Skellefteå and Djurgården’s Albin Grewe, with the pair both receiving slashing penalties. With four minutes to go in the middle frame, Skellefteå went to the powerplay looking to bring the game, and both the aggregate score, level. However, they were unable to find the breakthrough, and in the period’s dying minutes, it would be Djurgården who doubled their advantage. The goal was created through fantastic forechecking which saw Skellefteå turn the puck over twice in their own zone in the space of a few seconds. Kalle Östman passed the puck from behind the goal line to Gustav Possler who one-timed the puck past Lindvall.

Five minutes into the third period, Skellefteå got their chance to get back into the tie. They went on an extended 5-on-3 powerplay, and some fantastic passing play forced the Djurgården penalty killers out of position. The puck was worked to Joakim Lindström at the right-wing circle and he had an almost empty net to fire his slapshot into. However, ill-discipline cost Skellefteå once more. Niclas Bergfors converted a backhand effort just a handful of seconds into a powerplay to restore Djurgården’s two-goal lead. Skellefteå continued their march to the penalty box, and with seven and a half minutes to go, Patrik Berglund gave Djurgården their second 5-on-3 powerplay goal of the net, and sealed the tie in the Stockholm side’s favour. The clock eventually ran down, sealing Djurgården Stockholm’s place in the Quarter-Finals for the first time in their history.