Mer

Lulea level SHL Finals with commanding win over Brynas

Lulea dominated game two to level the series
Lulea dominated game two to level the seriesJONATHAN NÄCKSTRAND / Bildbyran Photo Agency / Profimedia
Lulea bounced back from defeat in game one by resoundingly beating Brynas 5-2 in game two, leaving Gavle with the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) Finals tied at 1-1 ahead of two matches on home ice.

Brynas were on the right side of a narrow 2-1 overtime win in the Finals opener, but had no response to Lulea last night at their own Monitor ERP Arena.

The visitors stamped their authority in just the second minute, when Markus Nurmi wrestled the puck forward to Pontus Andreasson, who has on hand in front of the net to break the deadlock.

The home side made life harder for themselves five minutes later, conceding a penalty and allowing Lulea to bide their time in the attacking zone before Andreasson set up Anton Levtchi for the second.

Lulea were just as dominant in the second period, though their two goals arrived just 40 seconds apart.

Linus Olund spent five minutes in the sin bin for boarding, and though Brynas survived a man down for three minutes, their resistance broke midway through the period when Linus Omark picked out Brendan Shinnimin.

The second goal of that powerplay belonged to Marcus Hardegard, who took aim from long range and buried the puck past Erik Kallgren to make it 4-0.

The home crowd had something to cheer when Jakob Silfverberg pulled a goal back six minutes into the third, then, faint hopes of a comeback were ignited when Greg Scott got the decisive touch in a goal-mouth scramble.

But those hopes were put to bed with less than seven minutes remaining, when Eetu Koivistoinen's shot from distance found its way in.

With a 5-2 win under their belts, Lulea will be aiming to build on that when they host game three tomorrow night.