After dropping the first game of a two-game aggregate series agains Lulea by a score of 3-2 in the Champions Hockey League (CHL) finals, Frolunda came up big at home with help from Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Andreas Johnson.
In need of a two-goal victory to move onto the semis, Frolunda came out playing loose and pushing the tempo, with chances going both ways all game.
After the teams traded early goals from Frolunda's Johan Sundstrom and Lulea's Toni Rajala, Johnson broke out, finishing off a cross-ice feed on his own rebound. Watch the goal below, where Johnson -- as always -- has all the time in the world to get two cracks finishing:
After a late second period goal from Johan Forsberg tied the game up 2-2 heading into the first intermission, Frolunda continued to press in the second and capitalized on ongoing pressure to add three more goals from Patrik Carlsson, former Leaf Spencer Abbott, and Oscar Fantenberg to give Frolunda a 5-3 lead heading into the third.
But with the two-goal cushion they needed and a 28-13 advantage in shots, Carlsson would take a checking from behind penalty that would give Lulea the chance they needed to cut into the lead on a five-minute powerplay. And they did, scoring to bring Frolunda's lead to 5-4 and tie the series 7-7 on aggregate.
Despite the technical win, the team's headed to 10 minutes of 4-on-4 overtime to decide who advanced to the semis. After going scoreless, the game headed to a shootout, where once again, Johnson was tasked with coming up big.
Up one goal in the shootout with one shooter apiece remaining, Johnson had a chance to finish it and send Frolunda to the CHL semis with a '6-4 win':
The win represented a sort of redemption for Johnson and Frolunda, who lost in the CHL finals to Lulea a year ago. Johnson may not have even had the chance to seal it had Rajala not narrowly missed on a cheeky attempt with the tournament on the line:
With the win, Frolunda will face HC Davos in the CHL semis with the winner taking on the winner of Karpat and Lukko for Europe's championship.
Johnson now has 10 points in as many games in Champions Hockey League action.
