Stavanger Oilers defend Norwegian Championship

Home advantage was the key in the Finals 2016 in Norway. From game 1 on the home teams looked very good. The Oilers started the series off with the closest possible score in hockey. American skater Nick Bruneteau scored after 52 minutes for Stavanger to give them a 1-0 win.

Game 2 should happen to be the game with the most goals in the Finals. All three periods shared a common theme. Lorenskog found a way to go ahead and latest 2 minutes afterwards Stavanger had the answer. So the game went into overtime with a 3-3 score. Stefan Espeland scored after 10:35 minutes for the home team and the series was tied.

Back in Stavanger the scoring was again reserved for the Oilers as goalie Ruben Smith secured his second shoutout. And so the goals by Tommy Kristiansen and Josh Soares with an empty net goal sufficed to win game 3.

Lorenskog came back one more time. A 4-1 victory in game 4 got them even with Stavanger one last time. In game 5 though the Oilers pulled away with a 3-2 overtime win.

The mathematics of the matches up to this point promised a 7^th game as the ultimate battle. But the rhythm broke in game 6 in Lorenskog. Ruben Smith did not have enough yet and blanked Lorenskog's skaters one more time. Kissel, Kristiansen and Lorentzen added the goals for a 3-0 victory, that had Stavanger win its 6^th Norwegian Championship.

Tweets by @eurohockey