November 20th 2017
Lillehammer – Storhamar 2-3 (0-0, 2-2, 0-1)
Storhamar won the «Hockey Classic» in front of 10.000 spectators thanks to a Victor Svensson goal three minutes from the end nicely set up by Hampus Gustafsson. It was a beautiful ending to a special night in Lillehammer.
The first period was quite scrappy without any scoring. And then everything opened up in the second act. The hosts drew first blood when Joakim Arnestad found the back of the net from the back door on a powerplay, and then Robin Dahlstrøm brought it back to level terms 22 seconds later on a rebound from a Joakim Jensen shot. The same Jensen sent Storhamar ahead a fem minutes later when he redirected a Kodie Curran powerplay shot. But the visitors weren’t ahead for too long as Lillehammer leveled the game at the 12 minute mark. Arnestad was fed on the doorstep for an easy tap-in caused by a lucky board bounce a few seconds earlier.
Both teams had their chances to win it in the third frame, the biggest one when Joey Benik challenged Oskar Östlund from point blank range. But the Storhamar netminder said no. The game winning goal by Svensson came at 16.53, and the hosts created a lot of pressure during the dying minutes. But the Yellows could hold on and celebrate a huge win.