What a hockey power display: Following their 5-0 victory in the first leg, the Bremerhaven Pinguins also dominated the second leg against Skelleftea AIK at will.
In the small town of Skelleftea, home to 76,000 people in northern Sweden, few truly believed in a hockey miracle. After suffering a heavy 0-5 defeat in the first leg of the Champions Hockey League Round of 16 against the Fischtown Pinguins, expectations were understandably low. The Swedes are the reigning champions and reached the final of the Champions Hockey League last season.
Even with a five-goal deficit, it’s never over in hockey – but the empty seats in the 6,000-capacity arena on Tuesday night spoke volumes about the Swedish fans’ sentiments. Barely 1,000 of them were scattered throughout the arena, and only the 100 Pinguins supporters who traveled from Bremerhaven could be heard.
They witnessed a fabulous night of hockey, seeing their Fischtown Pinguins cruise into the CHL quarter-finals with another monumental 5-1 victory – making them just the second German team to reach this stage since EHC Munich.
Despite the expectations that the Swedes would “come out like fire” from the locker room, quickly closing the gap with early goals, Skelleftea experienced a painful déjà vu. Just like in the first leg, the Swedes conceded four goals in the first period.
Philipp Bruggisser (5th minute), Christian Wejse (16th), Max Görtz (17th), and captain Jan Urbas (19th) struck in quick succession, once again subjecting the Swedes to a humiliating defeat on home ice. As the deficit grew, the arena emptied further – Skelleftea would have needed to score nine goals to level the match; only the most die-hard fans remained to endure the debacle.
For the Pinguins fans, many of whom had flown from Bremen early in the morning with the team, the day trip to the snowy north of Sweden was worth it. They relentlessly cheered in the dismal arena, watching their team maintain control and finish the match with a solid performance.
In the 50th minute, Urbas scored what seemed to be the final goal, making it 5-0 and completing a miserable night for the Swedes while sealing the Pinguins’ celebration. However, when Oscar Lindberg managed to score a consolation goal in the 54th minute to make it 1-5, it brought little joy even to the goalscorer himself.
