In a pair of highly competitive groups, KalPa Kuopio and Linkoping HC both came up with huge home-ice wins to jump from worst to first. Also, Vitkovice got a huge win in Grodno to move even with the Belarusian club in Group I.
Neman Grodno 0–2 Vitkovice Ostrava
HIGHLIGHTS
In their first home game against Mannheim, Neman came out with lots of energy, got the early lead and then played solid defence to get the victory. They tried the same game plan this time, but ran into a brick wall named Pavel Kantor in the Vitkovice net, who stopped all 32 shots he faced to record the shutout. Vitkovice got a goal late in the first against the flow of play and eventually got their first win in Group I. Linemates Stanislav Balan and Michal Vandas combined for a goal and an assist each to account for 100 percent of the game's scoring.
“We saw Neman’s game against Mannheim when they had won 2-0,” said Vitkovice coach Ladislav Svozil. “We knew we would have to play good defence and not take many penalties, but today we had a lot of penalties. When we were playing 5-on-5, we were looking better. Our players had some problems in the first period. We could not accurately get the puck out of our zone and played badly around our net. We needed these 3 points. We want to take the next step in the CHL.”
"We tried to play good defence, but we couldn't score despite a lot of power plays," said Neman coach Milos Holan. "Vitkovice were the better team tonight and deserved to win. We have to hope that happens in Vitkovice now to qualify, we won't give up and will try hard on Friday."
Linkoping HC 2–0 IFK Helsinki
HIGHLIGHTS
IFK Helsinki could have wrapped up a playoff spot with a regulation win, but they ran into a Linkoping squad determined not to let their offence going, and limited the Finnish club to 16 shots on goal – all of which were handled by David Rautio for the shutout. Petter Hannson on a one-timer from the top of the slot in the first period and Rhett Rhakshani early in the third provided Linkoping with all the offence they needed to leap-frog SC Bern and IFK into first place in Group A.
When asked about his perfect set-up pass for the goal by Hansson, Linkoping forward Andrew Gordon responded, “Anyway that I can help the team. Scoring goals and making passes. The last couple of nights I have been able to get onto the score sheet. It’s a wonderful experience for me to get to play European hockey. You face different styles and different players, some that you have met before and some not.”
IFK Helsinki defenceman Daniel Grillfors said, “They didn’t give us a lot of chances today. In the next game we have to skate a lot more than what we did today. We have to work together and play as a team.”
KalPa Kuopio 2–1 Stavanger Oilers
HIGHLIGHTS
KalPa win a tight-checking, defensive game with Stavanger and have now taken 5 of 6 points from their two home games. If they can now take just 2 total points from their two away games in Trinec and Stavanger, they will be on to the next round. Santeri Lukka and Patrick Davis scored power-play goals in the first and second periods, respectively. Tommy Kristiansen got the Oilers on the board early in the third to set up an interesting finish, but couldn't net the equalizer.