HC Kosice 2–1 KAC Klagenfurt (SO)
It was a dominant effort by Kosice on home ice, out-shooting Klagenfurt 39–19 through 65 minutes of hockey, but needed a shootout to win and secure their place in the next round. Jiri Becek opened the scoring with 5:00 left in the second period and it looked like that might be enough to get Kosice through, but Kevin Kapstad tied it with 5:30 left in regulation time. The teams went end-to-end in overtime but Pekka Tuokkola and Dominik Riecicky continued to be solid. In the shootout, 3 out of 4 Kosice shooters scored to put it away.“I think Kosice played a really good game in the middle period, and we didn't,” appraised Klagenfurt head coach Doug Mason. “In the final period we came out better and tied the game, but they showed their skill in the shootout and deserved the win. Of course you're disappointed to lose, but they deserved it today and go to the next round.”
“It was a really important game for us,” said Kosice coach Peter Oremus. “Klagenfurt were a good opponent, it was tough game. We changed goalies, Riecicky played well in the pre-season and showed that he has good qualities. I’m glad that we’ve made it to the playoffs, also for the fans in Kosice, who get to see games against teams from all over Europe. I thank the coach of Klagenfurt for a great game. Now we wait to see who we play next and we’ll do our best to advance further and to bring more international hockey to Kosice.”
TPS Turku 1–2 Dusseldorfer EG (SO)
Dusseldorf join the Round of 32 by taking the necessary 2 points in Turku, going right down to the wire and winning it in a shootout, where Eduard Lewandowski scored the only goal. Tomi Kallio and Daniel Kreutzer traded goals in the first period, but then Teemu Lassila and Robert Goepfert were perfect over the last 45 minutes of hockey.“I think we were the better team today from the start,” opined Dusseldorf head coach Christof Kreutzer. “We worked hard, and needed the points. The shootout is a lottery, but we had a great goalie today, after the first goal! We're in the next round now, but we need a good game on Sunday against Linz as we want to win every game. For me, our fans are the best in the world! At the home games they're unbelievable, and for so many to come to Turku, it's expensive, and midweek when they need to take holidays, it's great. I love them.”
“Difficult game today,” said TPS coach Ari-Pekka Selin. “We were tired, we played at such a high tempo. We made many bad mistakes with the puck. It's good that we lasted 60 minutes and got one point. We had good penalty killing today, very good. And of course Lassila was fantastic.”
JYP Jyvaskyla 1–4 Frolunda Gothenburg
In a game between two teams that had already advanced, but with first place in Group N on the line, Frolunda went into Jyvaskyla and won to give themselves home-ice advantage in the second leg of the Round of 32. As usual, Frolunda's power play was deadly, scoring all 4 of their goals with the man adavantage on 8 opportunities, while JYP were 0-for-4. Spencer Abbott scored 2 goals, Ryan Lasch had 2 assists and Joel Lundqvist was 1 + 1 for Frolunda, while Joonas Nattinen scored JYP's lone goal in the 25th minute.“We were playing against a good Finnish team,” Frolunda coach Roger Ronnberg said about his opponents. “I am satisfied with the team spirit, the players were playing for each other and blocked a lot of shots. We are at the start of the season so I hope we can still get better in most parts of our play.”
IFK Helsinki 1–2 Linkoping HC
IFK Helsinki started strong in a game where they could have advanced with a win, carrying the edge in play and scoring the first period's only goal, courtesy Cramo Top Scorer Mika Partanen. Linkoping came back with a big push in the second, however, and scored twice – Gustav Forsling on the power play and then Nichlas Hardt with 55 seconds left in the period. IFK had chances to equalize in the third with four straight power plays, including one in the final minute with their goaltender out, and they peppered Marcus Hogberg from every angle but couldn't get it. IFK Helsinki will have to rely on help from Linkoping in Bern on Saturday in order to advance.“It was a tough game. We knew they were gonna come hard and I think we adjusted pretty good and played a good game. We got better as the game went on,” said Hardt, the winning goal scorer. About the upcoming game in Bern, he added, “It’s gonna be another tough game and we wanna do our best like every game. We’re gonna go home now and practice some more and prepare well for the game against Bern.”
“Linkoping were very good in the beginning of the first period, but we managed to turn it around and take control of the game,” said IFK Helsinki head coach Antti Tormanen. “We played well after the first goal and got some chances on the power play in the beginning of the second. A few stupid penalties gave the game away to the opponent and they took a 2-1 lead. In the third we did what we could and got the some opportunities on the power play but just couldn’t get the puck in. We haven’t scored on the power play in the CHL this season and that just isn’t good. The opponents we’ve faced are top-notch teams and if you lose control of the game the other team will get in on it and take over.”
Bili Tygri Liberec 2–0 HK Nitra
Liberec entered the game knowing they needed only a point to secure their berth in the CHL's Round of 32, but won it outright anyway with their second shutout win in a row over Nitra. They got all the offence they needed on the power play, courtesy Martin Bakos in the first period and Branko Radivojevic in the last minute of the second, and the team played perfect team defence around Jan Lasak, who only needed to stop 13 shots for the shutout.“They took advantage of their power plays and dominated all game long,” Nitra coach Antonin Stavjana said after his team's last CHL game of the year. “We played with too much respect and we need to be more aggressive at both ends of the ice. Congratulations to Liberec.”
“We started the game very actively and were a much better team in the first period,” acknowledged Liberec coach Filip Pesan, whose team still has one more group-stage game to go before the playoffs. “After that, Nitra were able to battle with us as we played a bad second period and the third one was very tight. We had more scoring chances, but our finishing was terrible. It was a very different game than the one in Nitra and we’re happy to come out victorious.”
Farjestad Karlstad 4–3 Dynamo Pardubice (OT)
In Thursday's last game, Farjestad came from two goals down in the third period, tied the game with 20 seconds to go and won in overtime to secure a playoff berth. John Persson got the late equaliser and Milan Gulas scored the OT-winner on the power play to put Pardubice away. For Pardubice, who led in the third period of all three games they've played so far and twice conceded in the last minute, the fact that they have only 1 point at this stage is nearly incomprehensible.
“We didn’t start too good but and we couldn’t seem to score, but in the third we came through and dominated. It feels good to have secured a playoff spot because I think we deserve it,” said Persson. On his goal tying goal, which put Farjestad through to the playoffs, he said, “We fought good during that last shift when we pulled the goalie and then I just took the puck to the slot and saw that the top corner was open for me to score in. It felt great!”
When asked what coach Tommy Samuelsson told the team in the dressing room after 40 minutes, trailing by 2 goals, Persson explained, “He just told us to get back to our game plan and keep fighting until the end.”
Krefeld Pinguine 5–6 Vienna Capitals
In a game where both teams had a chance to advance with a regulation win, both teams blew two-goal leads at different stages of the game, and Derek Whitmore's second of the game on the power play with 9:13 remaining to give the playoff spot to Vienna. Daniel Pietta opened the scoring for Krefeld, but Vienna fought back with 3 in a row before the game was 10 minutes old. Kefeld replied with four in a row, however, including 2 shorthanded goals on the same penalty, and it looked like they would go on. Vienna scored the game's last three goals, though, as momentum shifted once again.Krefeld forward Norman Hauner, who also scored 2 goals, figured that “We played great in the second period, and went into the last 20 with a lead but it didn't happen for us. We didn't do it on the penalty kill. We wanted to go to the next round, it's been a great experience but we wanted to get through and had the chances to do so.”
“This game had everything. A lot of penalties, goals. Both teams played a very physical type of hockey,” an emotional Whitmore marvelled when it was done. “With all the fans and enormous tension – it was like a playoff game. It’s a big win for us, we have shown a lot of character. We made a huge comeback, everybody is happy right now. It’s fun to play games like this, we enjoy it so much. We still have to play one more game against Karpat and we want to be as good as today. It is exciting to advance to the next round. Now we don’t know who we will be playing against, but it’s nice to be in playoffs.”
ERC Ingolstadt 5–3 Vaxjo Lakers
Ingolstadt needed only a point on home ice to lock up a spot in the Round of 32, but they had their sights higher than that – they knew that they had a chance to take 1st place in Group O by winning their last two games in regulation, and getting the right goal difference, and they're halfway there. After a scoreless first period, there was a mad flurry of five goals in the second, with Vaxjo going up 2–1 but Ingolstadt leading 3–2 at the second intermission. Thomas Greilinger scored the eventual game-winner on the power play with 8:14 to to, Vaxjo captain Liam Reddox got one back, but an empty-netter in the dying seconds by Jared Ross, his 2nd goal of the game, gave Ingolstadt a goal that might become important if a head-to-head tiebreaker is needed for the group title.After the game Ross said, “I think we played a very good game. We skated very well and worked very hard, so we frustrated them through that.”
“It was a close and fast-tempo game. We had good special teams tonight, but you also need a little bit of luck and today we earned the luck,” said Ingolstadt coach Manny Viveiros.
“We came up very good, but then we took too many penalties, so we gave away the momentum. They beat us at the special teams tonight,” figured Vaxjo coach Sam Hallam.
Storhamar Hamar 5–1 Geneve-Servette
The Cinderella story of this year's Champions Hockey League, Storhamar continue their improbable run, winning their third game in a row to claim first place in Group M. They withstood early Geneve pressure and opened the scoring with 16 seconds left in the first period. They built up the lead to 4–0 in the second, much to the delight of the crowd of 5,335 – roughly 15 percent of Hamar's population! Alexander Reichenberg scored the first and last goals of the game, with Christian Larrivee, Hampus Gustafsson and Eirik Skadsdammen also contributing 2 points each. Geneve now need a regulation victory in Prague on Saturday in order to advance.“It's hard to believe that I got two today, and we won 5–1,” Reichenberg said afterward in disbelief. “It's funny that this team, a group of great friends now, is going out and beating great teams. We have a great coach, good crowd here, we find a way to win and it's so amazing.”
“It wasn't a good game for us, they played well and we have to give them credit,” conceded Geneve forward Matt Lombardi. “They came out, had a disciplined game while we got frustrated. They just had more emotion than us, more drive, and wanted it more than we did. If we want to keep going in (the CHL) we have a chance to redeem ourselves in Prague. We need to play a lot better than we did tonight.”
Stavanger Oilers 3–0 KalPa Kuopio
In a day that saw a bunch of new teams join the group of teams in the Round of 32, the Stavanger Oilers became one of two Norwegian clubs to do so by shutting out KalPa Kuopio on home ice. Stavanger held a wide edge in play but didn't open the scoring until a power-play goal in the 35th minute by Tommy Christiansen. Then Jonas Johansson added another power-play goal in the third and a late empty-netter by Dan Kissel, his 3rd point of the game, rounded out the scoring. Ruben Smith made 17 saves for the shutout.SonderjyskE Vojens 1–2 HV71 Jonkoping
Back on home ice, where they won their first CHL game of the year, SonderjyskE knew they needed at least a point to keep their hopes of advancing alive. They gave a great effort and even took the early lead, but in the end fell just a little bit short. Mads Lund opened the scoring in the 29th minute but former NHLer Jere Karalahti tied it on an HV71 power play late in the second period. Mathias Tedenby got credit for the winner in the 47th minute when his long wrister hit the leg of a SonderjyskE defender and went in the net.“It was a tougher game for us than Saturday,” acknowledged HV71 goalie Erik Ersberg, who stopped 22 or 23 SongerjyskE shots. “They played better on their own ice - it might have been because of the small ice size. But I think we controlled most of the game and won deservedly. Even though we didn't play our best we were the better team tonight. Now we are in the next round and can go on to Salzburg and use the game as preparation.”
“We skated better tonight than in Jonkoping,” said SonderjyskE coach Dan Ceman, comparing his team’s performance this game to Saturday’s. “And of course the small ice here in Vojens helped us make the neutral zone tighter. They had a lot of chances in the first, and especially the second period. We found some extra energy towards the end of the game and we were buzzing around their goal in the third period. I think the players should be proud of themselves and their effort tonight.”
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