Skellefteå opened a 3-1 lead in its playoff series with Linköping.
It seems there is nothing that can prevent Skellefteå from reaching the finals of the Ellitserien.
The regular-season points champion took a commanding 3-1 lead in its semifinal series against Linköping with a 3-2 overtime win April 3 at the Cloetta Center in Linköping. Oscar Lindberg scored the game-winner at 4:48 of sudden death, helping SAIK save face after it blew a 2-0 lead.
Skellefteå opened its lead in the second period. Petter Emanuelsson put SAIK on top 1-0 with a power-play goal at 5:31. Joakim Lindström made it 2-0 at 16:29 of the period.
Linköping rallied in the third behind Simon Hjalmarsson, who scored twice to the tie game. Hjalmarsson struck first 27 seconds into the third. He tied the score at 19:11 of the third to send the game into overtime. The two goals gave Hjalmarsson five in the playoffs and 11 points overall.
Trading shots during overtime
In overtime, the two teams traded shots until Lindberg found the net. The goal was his second-straight overtime game-winning tally.
The win was Skellefteå’s third-straight over Linkoping in what has been a hard-fought series. All four games have gone to ovetime. Linköping took Game 1 March 28 when Erik Lindhagen scored at 15:18 of sudden death to give LHC a one-game lead. Two days later, John Klingberg tied the series for SAIK when he struck at 5:58 of overtime in Game 2. Skellefteå took a 2-1 series lead Aril 1 when Lindberg scored at 3:28 of sudden death.
The series between Färjestad and Luleå continues April 4 with Luleå holding a 2-1 series lead. Luleå won the first two games 4-1 and 5-2 before the Wolfpack rallied to win Game 3 4-1 at the Löfbergs Lila Arena in Karlstad. Chris Lee, the leading scorer in the playoffs, had a goal and an assist to lead Färjestad to the win.
Lee and Anders Bastiansen scored 1:07 apart late in the first period to give Färjestad a 2-0 lead. Linus Persson struck at 9:54 of the second to cut the lead in half. Mikael Johansson restored the two-goal lead at 1:15 of the third off an assist from Lee. Patrik Lundh tallied at 11:54 to make the score 4-1.
by Chipp Reid
