Innsbruck is a top team in Austria, but that's not saying a lot; AIK play at a much higher level. There was a huge difference in the way the two teams played in Tuesday night's CHL meeting, and it showed right from the start. But the home team, cheered on by their loud fans, still managed to protect their goal.
Goalie Makus Gratzer had some luck on his side, as well as a dedicated defense that did everything it could to keep the puck out of the net.
AIK's hard work would pay off, but the scorer was a surprise. With Jonathan Johnson injured and Elias Stenman suspended, Lukas Vesterlund was given the chance to join the team.
The junior player, who usually plays in the J20 team, scored a beautiful goal after a nice setup by Dylan Sikura. The goal came with just 13 seconds left in the first period.
But if you thought that goal would open the floodgates, think again. Oscar Lindberg was sent off immediately after the AIK goal.
This meant that AIK started the second period a man down. It looked like the team would handle the numerical disadvantage well, but in the final seconds of the penalty Innsbruck equalized.
After a long deadlock a Linus Lindström goal finally grabbed a 2-1 lead for AIK.
At the beginning of the third period, Axel Sandin-Pellikka gave his team some breathing space when he scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1. Kele Steffler scored for Innsbruck midway through the period to keep things interesting until near the end when Pär Lindholm shot into an empty net to make it 4-2.
MATCH DETAILS
CHL
Innsbruck–Skellefteå AIK 2–4 (0–1, 1–1, 1–2)
Goals: 0–1 (19.47) Lukas Vesterlund (Dylan Sikura), 1–1 (21.52) Senna Peeters (Dario Winkler, Kevin Roy), 1–2 (35.29) Linus Lindström (Filip Sandberg), 1–3 (41.43) Axel Sandin-Pellikka (Oskar Nilsson, Filip Sandberg), 2–3 (49.57) Kele Steffler (Nicholas Albano), 2–4 (59.54) Pär Lindholm (Linus Lindström).
Shots: 13–49 (3-12, 6-17, 4–20).