ZSC Lions Zurich beat the Vienna Capitals in overtime to close the gap slightly, but they'll still have to win in regulation time in Vienna to win Group B. Meanwhile, Farjestad Karlstad beat Valerenga Oslo to keep their slim wild-card hopes alive.
by Derek O'Brien, with contribution from Andreas Reiner
Entering Game Day 5, the Vienna Capitals held a three-point lead atop Group B ahead of ZSC Lions Zurich, the same team they were set to play. Meanwhile, Farjestad Karlstad sat eight points back of the lead and three points out of second place with five points. They hosted winless Valerenga Oslo.
After their short, two-hour bus trip to Karlstad, Valerenga got plenty of support from the fans who travelled with them, put on some early pressure and got an early power play. Tobias Lindstrom scored with the man advantage to put them into the lead and whip the visiting Norwegian fans into a frenzy. Farjestad pushed back starting in the second period, though, and went on to win 4–1 led by Shawn Lalonde's two assists.
At the same time, Vienna went into Zurich knowing that a win would secure first place in the group for them. Patrik Bartschi and Jonathan Ferland traded first period goals, and then goalies Lukas Flueler and Matt Zaba were perfect over the last 40 minutes of regulation time. In overtime, Zurich got a goal from Chris Baltisberger, who had just re-joined the Lions after attending an NHL training camp, to earn the extra point and keep their chances of winning the group alive.
"I was happy to be back on the team after the camp with the Edmonton Oilers and of course it was nice to get the win and I’m always happy when I can help with a goal," Baltisberger said afterward. "And of course I’m happy that we got that extra point."
"They’re a good hockey team, we reacted well, but they came out hard," said Ferland, the Vienna captain. "We made some adjustments between the first and the second period and we were better and had the better chances, chances to win the game. We just didn’t put them in and in the end they got the last goal. But it was a good battle, everybody played hard and we have to be proud of that game we played today."
Despite not being able to put away the group title, Vienna will get another chance to do so when they face Zurich on home ice on 7 October. This time they will need only a single point to do so and, even if they don't, there's still a good chance a second place wild-card spot. Vienna will need to win the game in regulation to claim the group; failing that, every point they can earn would increase their chances at a wild-card spot.
"We have to play the same way we did in two weeks," Ferland said, explaining what Zurich have to do to earn first place in Vienna. "We have to work hard every shift if we want to have success, we have to be skating fast all the time because their team is so fast that if we don’t skate they’re gonna beat us. So we have to do the same things as tonight and play together. Only then will we have a chance to compete and win."
Zurich also need at least two points to ensure they can't be overtaken by Farjestad, who still have a faint hope at a wild-card spot.
All possibilities are explored in greater detail below.
Group B standings
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF:GA | GDF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vienna Capitals | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11:6 | +5 | 12 |
| ZSC Lions Zurich | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 14:11 | +3 | 10 |
| Farjestad Karlstad | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13:12 | +1 | 8 |
| Valerenga Oslo | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6:15 | -9 | 0 |
Schedule and results
| Date | Time | Group | Home | Away | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21.08.2014 | 19:30 | Group B | Vienna Capitals | Farjestad Karlstad | 4:1 (3:0, 0:0, 1:1) |
| 21.08.2014 | 19:45 | Group B | ZSC Lions Zurich | Valerenga Oslo | 4:1 (1:1, 1:0, 2:0) |
| 23.08.2014 | 17:45 | Group B | Vienna Capitals | Valerenga Oslo | 2:1 (0:0, 1:1, 1:0) |
| 23.08.2014 | 19:45 | Group B | ZSC Lions Zurich | Farjestad Karlstad | 2:3 (0:1, 1:0, 1:1, 0:1) |
| 04.09.2014 | 19:30 | Group B | Valerenga Oslo | Vienna Capitals | 1:2 (0:0, 1:1, 0:1) |
| 04.09.2014 | 20:05 | Group B | Farjestad Karlstad | ZSC Lions Zurich | 4:3 (1:2, 1:0, 1:1, 1:0) |
| 06.09.2014 | 14:30 | Group B | Valerenga Oslo | ZSC Lions Zurich | 2:3 (0:1, 1:0, 1:2) |
| 06.09.2014 | 14:35 | Group B | Farjestad Karlstad | Vienna Capitals | 1:2 (0:1, 0:0, 1:0, 0:0, 0:1) |
| 23.09.2014 | 19:45 | Group B | ZSC Lions Zurich | Vienna Capitals | 2:1 (1:1, 0:0, 0:0, 1:0) |
| 23.09.2014 | 20:05 | Group B | Farjestad Karlstad | Valerenga Oslo | 4:1 (0:1, 1:0, 3:0) |
| 07.10.2014 | 19:30 | Group B | Vienna Capitals | ZSC Lions Zurich | |
| 08.10.2014 | 20:05 | Group B | Valerenga Oslo | Farjestad Karlstad |
Game Day 6 possibilities
For an explanation of how the final 16 teams are determined, click here.
Vienna Capitals: home vs Zurich. Clinch 1st place with 1 point. 2nd place wild-card is probable with 0 points, but not guaranteed.
ZSC Lions Zurich: away vs Vienna. Clinch 1st place with 3 points. 2nd place wild-card is probable with 2 points, less probable with 1, possible but highly unlikely with 0. Further complicating matters is, with 1 or 0 points, they could be overtaken for 2nd place in the group by Farjestad, who would win a tie-breaker.
Farjestad Karlstad: away vs Valerenga. Cannot finish 1st. 2nd place wildcard possible with 3 points combined with 0 or 1 points from Zurich, highly unlikely but still possible with 2 points combined with 0 points from Zurich, not possible at all with 1 or 0 points. They hold the tie-breaker with Zurich.