Farjestad have 3-goal hole to overcome at home

On their home ice, the reigning Czech champions looked like the team from last year's playoffs, beating Farjestad Karlstad 4-1. That sets up a difficult task for the Swedish team on home ice, but not an impossible one.

“It was a very difficult game, my first game after months of just training,” said Milan Gulas, the Czech forward in Farjestad's lineup, who was playing his first game of the season after recovering from an injury. “Liberec played really well. We knew they were not doing very well in the league lately, but they were the better team today. They seemed to be well prepared and were much more efficient. The rematch will be very tough, but if we follow our plan, we can still make it to the next round.”

“We won 4-1, but the game was much more difficult than the score might show,” said Liberec forward Milan Bartovic, who scored two goals in the first game. “Farjestad’s players are really good at skating, but we were very strong on the puck and didn’t let them play typical Swedish hockey. That was a breaking point. We need to work as hard as today in the rematch, too, because we still need to make one more step to proceed to the Round of 16.”

“I have to congratulate Liberec, not only for the victory, but also for their play,” said Farjestad coach Leif Carlsson. “They deserved the win. We were far behind them and always were at the puck late. They were quick, made a few quick passes and we were unable to catch up with them. Liberec were just much more successful. We now have to prepare as well as possible for the rematch and do our best to try to win.”

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