Växjö begin CHL with convincing win over Braehead Clan

It was always going to be a relatively easy game for the reiginng SHL champions, and it only took them 4 minutes to break the deadlock, Forward Patrik Lundh beat Braehead goaltender Chris Holt who was a very busy man in his first game for the Clan after joining from Austrian side Oril Znojmo.

Växjö continued to press on and found themselves two up less than 30 seconds into their first powerplay. Newly signed forward Chris Bruton was sent to the box for Braehead on a holding call, and the Lakers impressive powerplay gave Finnish defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen netted his first of the game, the 30-year old recently joined from KHL side Salavat Yulaev Ufa and had a great first game in the CHL, finishing with 3 points on the night.

On a rare shot for the Braehead Clan who left Växjö goaltender Stefan Steen relatively untested, last seasons top scorer Stefan Meyer continued his goal scoring ways after a 36 goal campaign last season, registering the Clans first point of the tournament with 10 minutes played.

SHL champions Vaxjo continued their dominance shortly after, netting three more before the period was out as Heikkinen netted his second of the night before Robin Söderqvist made it 4 - 1 on a 4 on 4 play, with Patrik Lundh getting his second of the game on the powerplay late in the first period to go into the first break up 5 - 1.

It was probably more that Växjö relaxed, but Braehead looked to improve in the second frame, coming out hard and having rare moments where they could attack, while they still played mostly in their own zone, the play of Chris Holt kept the scoreline respectable for as long as he could as he made 42 saves on the evening.

The home fans had more reason to cheer when Alexander Johansson lit the lamp early on at 23.12 to make it a 6 - 1 lead, Heikkinen with the lead assist on the goal to complete his three point night.

Late in the period, Braehead forward Ben Davies pulled off a great deke to get past his man, but crashing the net his shot was dealt with easily by 22-year old goaltender Stefan Steen who made 22 regular season appearances last season behind the more experienced Christopher Nihlstorp who watched from the bench today.

Holt continued to do all he could between the Clan pipes, coming up big by robbing Vaxjo by flashing the leather on an in close shot, but moments later after another great toe save he couldn't stop 22-year old Linus Froberg from burying the rebound in his first game for the team since joining from Allsvenskan side BIK Karlskoga.

With Vaxjo up 7 -1  going into the third period, the game was already done and dusted by the teams still came out for the final 20 minutes with Vaxjo still pressing for an even bigger win.

Clan forward Stefan Meyer showed his quality again early in the final frame, receiving a pass from Brand Brooks, Meyer went in and got his shot off while being challenged, burying his shot upstairs to pull one goal back for Braehead. Just over a minute later they were down to four men, a second penalty for Chris Bruton and another powerplay goal for Vaxjo, winning the draw, Eddie Larsson played a perfect pass across to Alexander Johansson who fired a hard shot past Chris Holt for his second goal of the game, and Larsson's second assist of the game.

Up 8 - 2 that didn't stop Växjö, another powerplay opportunity came but they couldn't covert late in the game, but with minutes left Joakim Hillding pulled off a great move to get past his man, before rounding Chris Holt to slot the puck into the net for a 9 - 2 lead and then a minute later, Albin Storm took the puck deep into the zone before pulling off a great pass in front, the puck rattled around a little before Mikael Johansson netted the final goal of the game.

Växjö won 10 - 2.

Despite the huge defeat, there were a few positives for Braehead, they were expected to lose heavily anyway so the scoreline didn't matter much. The play of Chris Holt was impressive, pulling off some fantastic saves, he looks like he could be a more than capable replacement for former Clan goalie Kyle Jones, Stefan Meyer is the same Stefan Meyer who put up a 74 point season last year, and the defense got a good workout.

Now Växjö have a week break before they welcome German side ERC Ingolstadt, while Braehead board the plane to Ingolstadt ahead of their fixture with them on Saturday night.

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