Swedes stay among themselves for ET final

For Swedish side Luleå HF two late goals in the third period were enough to make their way to the European Trophy final by defeating co-hosts Vienna Capitals from Austria - KHL team Slovan Bratislava, the other hosts, had to leave the tournament already in the quarterfinals after giving their top lines a break before KHL continues next week. The home side started very aggressively but had to see how the favourites from Sweden took over the iniative. With the time progressing, they created more and more good scoring opportunities but Vienna goalie Matt Zaba showed a stellar performance - later he was voted man of the match. In the 46th minute though he wasn't able to keep the shot by Lukas Kilström outside, that first hit the post and then went into the net from the back of the goalie. With two minutes left in regulation Toni Koivisto decided the match with a break away for LHF.

Vienna Capitals head coach Tommy Samuelsson commented after the game: "I'm very proud we were able to perform so well against such strong opponents and keep the game open for so long. As expected, Lulea put us under enormous pressure and played a very tight game, but with a little good fortune we could have taken the lead. We created some early opportunities. It was unfortunate how we conceded the first goal. Both goalies outdid themselves. In the end, though, it was the little things that made all the difference."

For the guests their head coach Jonas Rönnqvist told the media what made the difference: "Our victory was well deserved. Our defence was strong and we used that to create several opportunities, two of which we turned to our advantage."

In the other match that was played in Bratislava also the other Swedish team left in the competition, Färjestad BK, made its way to the final. Against Finnish-based Tappara Tampere they won with 3-1. Rickard Wallin who twice earned a lead for FBK was voted man of the match afterwards with a goal by Jarno Koskiranta in between for Tappara. The match was decided by Marus Holtet who used an empty netter with 14 seconds left to play in regulation.  

On Sunday, 16 December 2012 (20.00 CET), Luleå HF and Färjestad BK have the opportunity to win the ET title in the final in Bratislava. For both teams it would be the first ET success - the first two editions of the tournament were won by Eisbären Berlin and Red Bull Salzburg.

 

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