A pair of group titles were still at stake on the last day of the group stage, and Tappara and Lulea claimed them by winning their games. Litvinov and Munich had already clinched 1st in their groups and won also, Litvinov in overtime. Also, Linz and Gap each finished their CHL campaigns with wins.
Gap Rapaces 3–1 Eisbaren Berlin
Gap went into their last CHL game of the season with a faint hope of advancing – needing a six-goal victory. As far-fetched as it sounded, however, they raised some early curiosity by scoring 2 goals in the first 13 minutes – both on the power play and both by Matt Carter. That's as close as they'd come, though, as Berlin resisted the urge to open the game up and try to tie it – they seemed more content to prevent Gap from getting any closer, which they did. Similar to their fellow French CHL entries from Grenoble, their failure to reach the necessary goal difference didn't do anything to dampen the sense of accomplishment, or the excitement of their fans.“I'm happy for my players, because I felt we did a lot of good things in the other thre games without winning - so this game sort of rewards the players for that,” said a proud Gap coach Luciano Basile. “We have great fans behind the team all the time with a lot of enthusiasm, we're used to it and love playing at home. Our CHL experience has given us a lot of confidence – losing by a goal to Zurich for example. We created a lot of chances in the away games too, so the confidence of being able to create chances I hope will bring us success in our domestic competitions.”
“Obviously we wanted to win the game, but Gap played well flipping pucks out and getting on to support them. I told the players we had to stick to our game, and at 2–1 I thought we'd get a tying goal but that's the way it goes,” conceded Berlin coach Uwe Krupp. “Out goal was to qualify for the next round, and we've done that.”
Black Wings Linz 5–3 Dusselforfer EG
The result has no impact on the Group G standings, but it sure made it an overall better experience for the Black Wings, who rallied from a 2-goal deficit late in the second period to finish off their CHL campaign with a 2-goal win to thrill their home fans. The tying and winning goals came 30 seconds apart, midway through the third period, with the last two Linz goals both coming on power plays. Brett McLean assisted on all of Linz's last 3 goals, while Andrew Kozek and 1 goal and 1 assist. For Dusselforf, who are going on to the Round of 32 regardless, Alexei Dmitriev had 1 goal and 1 assist.“The first 40 minutes it was our game. We could have shot more and we needed to score when we were on top. In the last period they were good on their power play and deserved it,” said Dusseldorf coach Christof Kreutzer.
“I thought we were very fortunate to only be down 1 goal after 40 minutes as they had a lot of the play, but you saw what happened in the third!” Linz coach Rob Daum concisely summarized.
Red Bull Munich 6–1 KAC Klagenfurt
With no chance of advancing, Klagenfurt wanted to finish up their CHL campaign with their first win. To do that, though, they'd have to beat a Munich team that had not given away a point yet, and they didn't today either. Munich scored twice in the first before KAC got their lone glimpse of hope, Oliver Seitzinger's shorthanded goal just nine seconds into the second period. After that it was all Munich, however. Keith Aucoin scored 2 goals and Dominik Kahun had 1 goal and 1 assist.Klagenfurt coach Doug Mason acknowledged how strong Munich are, stating, “The reason we lost is that Munich are a great team, they're deserving of this win, and winning our group. They play with great speed and intensity, the way the game is meant to be played. We had trouble scoring goals in our first two games, esepcially at home, and if you don't score goals you can't win.”
Munich coach Don Jackson replied, “We are very satisfied. Klagenfurt also played well in this tournament. There wasn't much at stake today, but our guys played very well.”
HC Litvinov 3–2 Espoo Blues (OT)
Litvinov already had Group F wrapped up but were trying to finish the group stage with a perfect record. They didn't quite do that, but did remain unbeaten with an overtime victory over the Espoo Blues, for whom the extra point means they get 2nd place based on points, rather than aggregate score vs Grenoble. Viktor Hubl ended the game after just 21 seconds of overtime, when he split the Blues' defence and beat goalie Kaapo Kakhonen under the crossbar. Kim Hirschovits had 1 goal and 1 assist for the Blues.
“I was quite happy with how we played the first period, even though we were one goal behind after the first,” Blues coach Jyrki Aho began. “We had lots of opportunities. The opponent was playing a little bit better in the second period but we scored the goal. That is how it goes in hockey. Sometimes you are handling the game and opponent is scoring goals. Both teams were pushing and playing in the right way to win in the third period. We took the lead and suddenly the game was tied. In overtime the opponent created a nice goal opportunity and won.”“I do not think it was a well-played game from our side,” admitted Litvinov coach Ondrej Weissman. “Our goalie saved us a lot of times, he shut the doors on three breakaways in the first period only. He was just brilliant. The second period was much better. We were controlling the puck in the attacking zone but we did not have as many opportunities to score. The third period started better for the Finns. We were just giving up the puck and were playing passively. Only until the took the lead, then we made some pressure and shots to come up stronger in the end.”
Lukko Rauma 0–3 Lulea Hockey
In a game in which the winner claimed 1st place in Group K, defending CHL champions Lulea turned in a superb road effort and shut out Lukko, a team that is fast becoming an arch-nemesis. The game remained scoreless until the 37th minute when Lulea struck twice 22 seconds apart. First Toni Rajala's shot off the crossbar and in needed video replay to confirm it, then Peter Celharik on a rebound. A late empty-netter put away the group title for Lulea.“Of course I'm satisfied,” Lulea coach Joakim Fagervall said afterward. “We played a solid game today defensively. We were very good on special teams, but I'm most satisfied with how we played in our own zone and as a team. Winning our group was our goal, so let's see what happens now in the playoffs.”
“Our game was okay, but okay is not good enough at this tournament,” Lukko captain Ilkka Mikkola said about his team’s performance. “We didn’t have the passion to win tonight and it was shown as unfinished game plays and we didn’t get into the scoring areas as we planned. Lulea were tougher tonight. We were up against a strong team and they outmatched us tonight. We learned that this type of okay game on Sunday is not enough.”
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