BK Mlada Boleslav won 3-2 on home ice, but it wasn't enough to keep them from being eliminated. Despite the loss, Yunost Minsk are off to the Round of 32. Read more in Gamecentre. 

BK Mlada Boleslav beat Yunost Minsk 3-2 to force a three-way tie in points in Group L – but they're out of the competition because they will lose the tie-breaker with either of the other teams. The Vaxjo Lakers beat them on points, 4-2 and their total score against Yunost was 6-6, but the Belarusian team goes through based on scoring more goals in their victory.

"I told everybody we would go to the next round," an ecstatic Yunost coach Mikhail Zaharov said at the end. "We're going to the next round and we're very happy."

Going into the game, Mlada Boleslav knew what their job was, and they showed right off the bat that they meant business. They dominated the opening 20 minutes but didn't make the most of their chances, with Dominik Pacovsky shooting wide on an open net and goaltender Dmitri Milchakov coming up big on a few occasions, particularly off a wide-open Lukas Zejdl. It wasn't until the last minute of the period before they finally came through – Tomas Urban deflecting a shot by Marek Trocinsky on the power play.

Early in the second period they added two more goals, and it looked like they were on their way to getting the job done – first Tomas Pospisil on a juicy rebound, then Radek Lenc on a low wrister on the rush. They now had a two-goal lead on aggregate, 6-4. But less than a minute later came the turning point of the game, when minor penalties to Trocinsky and Jakub Klepis on the same play gave Yunost a two-man advantage for a full two minutes. They didn't need the full two minutes, however. 

In the space of 1:11 they scored twice. First Alexei Yefimenko with a bullet of a one-timer on the 5-on-3, then Alexei Mikhnov from the slot on the 5-on-4 40 seconds later, and it was a 3-2 game at 27:14. More importantly, the aggregate score between the teams was now tied and Yunost held the tie-breaker as long as no more goals were scored. 

As the minutes ticked away, Mlada Boleslav became more desperate for a goal that would save their tournament. They had a late power play, but the Belarusian team killed it effectively. In the dying seconds, Tomas Hyka got a breakaway and tried to deke but Milchakov made an enormous pad save – his last save of the game and definitely his biggest.

“We wanted to win at home in front of our home crowd,” a disappointed Mlada Boleslav coach Frantisek Vyborny began. “Even though we did, it still leaves a bitter taste because we didn't get the necessary goals. With the score 3-0, it seemed like a relatively straightforward matter, but then came two unnecessary penalties and suddenly it was all different.

“These Champions League games have been excellent, whether it was Minsk or Vaxjo. For the boys, especially for the young ones, it's a great experience.”

Mlada Boleslav won 3-2, but it's Yunost Minsk who are off to the Round of 32. In their last game in Vaxjo, they will try to finish first place.