Austrian side HC Innsbruck have extended their Champions Hockey League debut with their qualification to the Round of 16 where they’ll skate against veterans Lukko Rauma who have stitched together a 5-1 record during the Regular Season. A fresh challenge awaits both clubs as neither side have faced the other this season.
- Balanced scoring from Lukko a big reason for their success
- Innsbruck extend their season in CHL debut
- This is Lukko's fifth consecutive Playoff appearance
Lukko finished the Regular Season with 15 points, one point behind the Växjö Lakers and Adler Mannheim who each recorded 16, for the top spot. This year, Lukko are returning to the CHL Playoffs for their fifth consecutive time and are hoping to return to the Semi-Finals for the first time since their 2015/16 campaign.
Achieving this is certainly not impossible for a club that’s scoring an average of 3.50 goals per game and boasts one of the best netminders in 24-year-old Daniel Lebedeff who has four wins to his name so far this season with a 94.44 SV% and a 1.50 GAA.
Lebedeff played some of his best hockey in Lukko’s 3-2 victory over Swiss side Genève-Servette where the backstop stopped 39 of 41 shots.
When it comes to scoring, the Finns haven’t been in want either, with four players having five or more points and defenceman Tarmo Reunanen leading the club in points with three goals and three assists for six points through five games.
On the opposing bench, Innsbruck enter this contest with a 50% win percentage. Their last game, a 4-2 defeat against Skellefteå AIK, was their second loss in three games. Now, the Austrians are looking to get back in the win column.
To do that, their top players in Corey Mackin and Braeden Shaw will need to lead the charge up front. Both players have recorded eight points through six games with Mackin lighting the lamp five times while assisting on three others and Shaw compiling four goals and four assists.
Shaw was a man on a mission in Innsbruck’s game against Danish side the Aalborg Pirates, securing a hattrick to go with two assists in their 6-4 win on Game Day 5.
Between the pipes, Evan Buitenhuis has been their go-to, but despite a 3-2 record, the veteran netminder hasn’t fared well in the stats department. So far through five games, he’s managed an 88.54 SV% and a 4.40 GAA.
Improving those numbers, however, could help Innsbruck steal a win – and perhaps the series – from the high-scoring offence of Lukko Rauma who are netting goals at an average of 3.50 a game.
Innsbruck are making the most of their CHL debut and will look to capitalise on that energy against a Lukko team that has won two of its last three contests.