Group D kicked off Game Days 3 and 4 with a pair of home-and-home match-ups. PSG Zlin and Fribourg-Gotteron would face off in two close matches which would prove crucial to the standings. Meanwhile, Eisbaren Berlin and Djurgarden Stockholm would meet for the first time in the CHL with the German squad looking for their first victory and Djurgarden trying to stay in the hunt.

by Kris Bligh, with contributions from Vojtech Jurak and Alain Hauert

As Game Day 3 got underway the group leading PSG Zlin played host to Fribourg-Gotteron. The hosts wasted little time getting to work as Tomas Zizka buried an absolute bomb from the point with the man advantage. However, less than two minutes later Fribourg-Gotteron’s Cramo Top Scorer Greg Mauldin evened things up. The teams headed in to the intermission all tied up. After some back and forth at the beginning of the second frame Friboug-Gotteron’s Marc-Antoine Pouliot finished off a beautiful tape to tape pass to score. The Swiss squad looked to be holding on for the victory but Jiri Marusak added a late goal to force overtime. In overtime the visitors would spoil the home game for Zlin, as former Colorado Avalanche Mauldin tucked in his second of the game to win it.

After the game here is what the coaches had to say:

Hans Kossmann (Fribourg, head coach): “We expected a tough game. Zlin is a very good and disciplined team, we had to work hard and wait for our chances. We are happy for this win. It was a big game for us, because we needed to get some points to stay in the run.”

Rostislav Vlach (Zlin, head coach): “We played well at the start but we lost the pace after the first goal. We couldn’t get up with the quality of the ice rink and our play was very complicated. We improved this at the end, but our opponent played a bit better and more simply and strongly today.”

In the second match-up of Game Day 3, Djurgarden Stockholm played host to Eisbaren Berlin, who were in the hunt for their first CHL victory. Petr Pohl got the visitors on the board just 1:18 into the game. After showing some undisciplined play in the second period Berlin would pay for it. First, Joakim Eriksson finished off some nice passing to draw even. Then Djurgarden convertrd again with a two-man advantage as Alexander Deilert launched home a one-timer. In the third, Mark Bell swept home the puck to tie up the game, but less than one minute later Markus Ljungh scored the game winner. Berlin showed a very gritty performance in this game but was still left searching for their first win.

Game Day 4 would begin with Zlin making the trip to Switzerland to complete the home-and-home with Fribourg. The same as in the first meeting, Zlin drew first blood early as Roman Vlach scored his first of this CHL campaign. Fribourg tied things up as Mauldin scored his CHL-leading eighth goal. In the second Zlin’s Petr Leska finished off some nifty passing on a 2-on-1 to put the visitors in the lead. 3:15 into the third period Pouliot added a power-play marker to even things up and, just like their last meeting, they would need extra time. After an uneventful overtime period it went to a shootout, where Pouliot absolutely undressed goalie Libor Kasik. Here is what both of those players had to say following the game:

Marc-Antoine Pouliot (Forward, Fribourg-Gottéron): “We are very happy with this win. Zlin is a strong team, but we managed to beat them twice in a row, even if it was only after regulation. For us it was important to finish these Champions League games on a positive note. Now we have to concentrate on what happens in our national championship, which starts next Friday.”

Libor Kasik (Goaltender, PSG Zlin): “This was a good game for me, as I had several chances to make big saves. In the end, this was not enough, even if I think that the second goal should have been disallowed. There was an attacker in my zone and for me it was a foul. The referee saw this situation in a different way – still I don’t agree with him.”

As Djurgarden paid a visit to the O2 World in Berlin it marked the end of Game Day 4 for Group D. Eiabaren Berlin were still in the hunt for their first win and they would not disappoint the home crowd. At 7:59 of the first period Petr Pohl tip home his first of night beating veteran net minder Mikael Tellqvist. However, not long after Joakim Eriksson added his second tally of this CHL season. The two teams traded goals in the second period with both of them coming on the power play. Alexander Deilert would put the visitors in the lead with another powerplay marker. But mid way through the third frame Petr Pohl would net another tally to even things up. Overtime would solve nothing and we were headed for a shootout. Petr Pohl and Matthew Foy would both score to give Berlin their first CHL in front of the home crowd.

Group D will resume on September 23 with Eisbaren Berlin hosting Fribourg-Gotteron and PSG Zlin visiting Djurgarden Stockholm. Fribourg is the new group leader but they will have to continue without their most prolific goal-scorer. Greg Mauldin, who has eight goals in four CHL games, broke his jaw in practice two days after he scored the shootout winner against Zlin and will miss the rest of the group stage.

Group D standings

Schedule and results