Red Bull Sazburg and HV71 Jönköping both move into a three-way tie atop Group I with 4-0 and 5-0 wins, respectively. Lulea Hockey also got a shutout win, while Djurgarden Stockholm and HC Bolzano earned their first regulation wins in the CHL.
Lulea Hockey 6–0 Hamburg Freezers
Lulea Hockey was 4-for-8 on the power play while only taking one penalty themselves all game, and that was the biggest reason why they beat the Hamburg Freezers 6-0 on home ice to remain perfect in Group K. Lucas Wallmark led the way with three points and Daniel Larsson made 26 saves for the shutout.
"Against such a strong team you simply cannot play shorthanded so much," said Hamburg defenceman Duvie Westcott. "Then you have simply no chance. Man-to-man they're the more talented team so you've got to play together as a unit, but if you're always killing penalties, you can't do it."
Djurgarden Stockholm 3–2 Eisbaren Berlin
In a match-up between two teams who desperately needed points to get back into the Group D race, Djurgarden Stockholm prevailed 3-2 in a back-and-forth game. Less than a minute after Mark Bell tied the game shorthanded for Eisbären, Marcus Ljungh scored the winning goal with 8:54 remaining.
HC Bolzano 4–2 TPS Turku
After being shut out in their first two CHL games, HC Bolzano turned an about-face on home ice and beat TPS Turku 4-2. Turku scored twice in the first five minutes but Bolzano stormed back to tie the score on two Anton Bernard goals before the first intermission. Still 2-2 midway through the third period, Marco Insam scored the game-winner with 6:15 to go and an empty-netter sealed it.
"I am overjoyed," new Bolzano head coach Mario Simioni said, not surprisingly. "My players gave everything and showed great character. After falling behind 2-0 they didn't hang their heads and fought back into the game. We won as a team. Everyone played his part. I'm just proud of my team. I would have never thought after such a poor pre-season that two weeks after the 9-0 loss we would beat Turku here. This win will give us a lot of confidence."
"Bolzano played a really good defensive game. We had trouble finding open space," said TPS coach Kai Suikkanen. "In addition, Jaroslav Hubl provided strong goaltending. My players had the wrong attitude on the ice and after beating them 9-0 at home underestimated them. In addition, we made too many mistakes."
Red Bull Salzburg 4–0 JYP Jyväskylä
The shots were even at 35 each, but Red Bull Salzburg scored one goal in the first, one in the second and two more in the third to defeat JYP Jyväskylä 4–0. Luka Gracnar stopped every shot he faced to earn the shutout, as Red Bull pulls even with JYP atop Group I.
Kloten Flyers 0–5 HV71 Jönköping
HV71 Jönköping makes it a three-way tie in Group I with a 5–0 win over the Flyers in Kloten. Marcus Nilson recorded a hat-trick and Gustaf Wesslau made 24 saves for the shut-out.
"I've played so long, I can't remember, but it's been maybe two or three years," Nilson said, when asked about his last hat-trick. About the game, he added, "They played hard, but we were more determined to have a good start."
"They were clearly better than us tonight, we didn’t play on our level," said a disappointed Kloten captain Victor Stancescu. "We gave up a goal on the first shift and were steamrolled in the first period and could only react instead of forcing the game. The second period went better but the penalties didn’t help our game. It’s the way we lost, that’s unacceptable."