Luleå, Tappara, Vienna and Färjestad to the ET semis

13 Dec 2012 | Henrik Lundqvist

The four quarter finals of the European Trophy playoffs, Red Bulls Salute, were played today.

Luleå beat the Elitserien rival Brynäs 4-3 in Albert Schultz Halle. Jonathan Granström, who was named man of the match, opened the scoring for Brynäs but then Joonas Vihko, Fredrik Svensson, Anton Hedman and Mika Pyörälä scored unanswered goals for Luleå. Andreas Thuressson made it 4-2 at 32:11 but the third Brynäs goal, scored by Johan Harju, arrived with only 17 seconds remaining of the game.

Only 49 seconds before the final buzzer Olli Palola scored the game winning 2-1 goal for Finnish Tappara aganist Swedish HV71. HV71 took the lead in the first period through Jesper Fasth. Teemu Aalto tied it in the second.

The only team to win its semifinal with a clear margin was Färjestad who beat Slovan Bratislava 4-1 in Slovnaft Arena. Joakim Hillding, Patrik Lundh, Per Åslund and Rickard Wallin took the Swedes to a 4-0 lead before Michal Vondrka could make it 4-1 late in the second period.

André Lakos got the winning goal in overtime when Vienna Capitals beat Eisbären Berlin 3-2. Eisbären had tied it in the last minute but when the Germans took a penalty in the overtime the Austrian home team could decide it.

In Saturday's semi finald Luleå will play Vienna in Albert Schultz Halle, Vienna and Tappara will play Färjestad in Slovnaft Arena, Bratislava. The final is played on Sunday in Bratislava.