Bili Tygri Liberec won in regulation time to overtake Kolner Haie for second place and give themselves a chance to win the group on Game Day 6. Karpat Oulu beat HC Kosice in overtime to keep the lead, but only by one point.
by Derek O'Brien, with contributions from Radoslav Vavrina and David Micke
Game Day 5 opened with three teams legitimately in the running for the group lead, making both games, which were played simultaneously, highly important. Karpat Oulu entered play leading the group with eight points, followed by Kolner Haie with seven, Bili Tygri Liberec with six and HC Kosice with three.
Liberec hosted Koln, and despite being out-shot 33-17, won 2-1 thanks to fantastic goaltending from Marek Schwarz. Liberec were highly efficient on their power play as well, going 2-for-6, as the trio of Petr Jelinek, Tomas Bulik and Petr Gregorek combined on both goals to give them a 2-0 lead. Alexander Sulzer got Koln on the board in the dying seconds of the second period, but they couldn't get the equalizer in the third, despite firing 11 shots at Schwarz.
"The only thing I’m not satisfied with is the result," Koln head coach Uwe Krupp said afterward, pleased with his team's effort. "We played well and even though Liberec was better in the first period, we were able to match the tempo in the following two periods. I regret that we didn’t get more goals, but I’m happy with the way we played."
"We’re happy that we capitalized on two power plays which decided the final outcome of the game," said Liberec assistant coach Milan Cerny. "We also killed many penalties and got a great performance from Marek Schwarz in the net. We played the way we wanted during the first period. The second wasn’t as good and we also started getting penalties, but we were able to hang on for the W."
The three points from Liberec temporarily moved them into first place, as Karpat and Kosice were tied 2-2 late in the third period. Cramo Top Scorer Joonas Donskoi opened the scoring for Karpat after just 15 seconds and assisted on the goal to tie the game at 2 in the second period. Eventually Karpat won in overtime, as Adam Masuhr scored the winner with just five seconds left in the extra period and Donskoi picked up his third point of the night, and the two points put Karpat back into the group lead, but by only one point.
"The beginning of the game wasn’t good for us and we gave up a goal after just a few seconds," said Kosice's Marek Bartanus. "We didn't give up, though. Both teams were pretty even the whole game. Most of the play was in the neutral zone, even though they controlled the puck more and had more chances than we did. But I don’t think there's any shame in our loss. We didn't disappoint."
"We played pretty good game as a team," said Karpat goalie Iiro Tarkki, who stopped 18 of 20 shots in the game. "For me it was a hard start because there weren't a lot of shots so I had to stay focused and keep myself calm. As a team we were really good in the whole game so we deserved the win."
Those two results set up an all-important battle for first place in the group on 8 October in Karpat. Since they won in Liberec on Game Day 1, Karpat would hold the tie-breaker in case both teams finish with 11 points, so they only need a single point on home ice to claim the group, while a regulation victory for Liberec would clinch it for the Czech squad.
Only those two teams have a chance to win the group, and chances are not high that one of the five second place wild-card spots will come from this group, but it is possible. As most groups play their final games on 7 October and Group A plays its last games the next day, the possibility of that will be better known as they start play. The second-place team will likely be Karpat or Liberec, but Koln also has an outside shot. Below, all the possibilities are explored in detail.
Group A standings
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF:GA | GDF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karpat Oulu | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14:11 | +3 | 10 |
| Bili Tygri Liberec | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15:12 | +3 | 9 |
| Kolner Haie | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9:12 | -3 | 7 |
| HC Kosice | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10:13 | -3 | 4 |
Schedule and results
| Date | Time | Group | Home | Away | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21.08.2014 | 19:30 | Group A | Kolner Haie | HC Kosice | 2:1 (1:0, 1:1, 0:0) |
| 21.08.2014 | 20:00 | Group A | Bili Tygri Liberec | Karpat Oulu | 3:4 (0:2, 2:2, 1:0) |
| 23.08.2014 | 17:30 | Group A | HC Kosice | Karpat Oulu | 1:2 (1:2, 0:0, 0:0) |
| 23.08.2014 | 17:45 | Group A | Kolner Haie | Bili Tygri Liberec | 1:4 (1:1, 0:2, 0:1) |
| 04.09.2014 | 17:30 | Group A | Bili Tygri Liberec | HC Kosice | 3:2 (1:0, 1:1, 1:1) |
| 05.09.2014 | 18:30 | Group A | Karpat Oulu | Kolner Haie | 3:2 (0:0, 0:2, 2:0, 0:0, 1:0) |
| 06.09.2014 | 17:30 | Group A | HC Kosice | Bili Tygri Liberec | 4:3 (0:1, 3:2, 1:0) |
| 07.09.2014 | 17:45 | Group A | Kolner Haie | Karpat Oulu | 3:2 (0:2, 1:0, 2:0) |
| 24.09.2014 | 17:30 | Group A | Bili Tygri Liberec | Kolner Haie | 2:1 (1:0, 1:1, 0:0) |
| 24.09.2014 | 18:30 | Group A | Karpat Oulu | HC Kosice | 3:2 (1:1, 1:1, 0:0, 1:0) |
| 08.10.2014 | 17:30 | Group A | HC Kosice | Kolner Haie | |
| 08.10.2014 | 18:30 | Group A | Karpat Oulu | Bili Tygri Liberec |
Game Day 6 possibilities
For an explanation of how the final 16 teams are determined, click here.
Karpat Oulu: home vs Liberec. Clinch 1st place with 1 point. 2nd place wild-card with 0 points is possible, but highly unlikely.
Bili Tygri Liberec: away vs Karpat. Clinch 1st place with 3 points. 2nd place wild-card with or 2 points is possible, but far from certain, highly unlikely with 1 point. No possibility of advancing with 0 points.
Kolner Haie: away vs Kosice. No possibility of finishing 1st place. 2nd place wild-card extremely unlikely, but possible with 3 points combined with 0 points from Liberec. No other combination is possible, as they would lose a tie-breaker with either Liberec or Karpat.