An amazing comeback by HC Kosice in an absorbing encounter with Black Wings Linz saw the Slovaks start elimination in the face but keep themselves alive thanks to four straight goals. Read more in Gamecentre.

A decent opening period for the Black Wings saw them in a good position after 20 minutes at the Keine Sorgen EisArena. After failing to take advantage of a couple of penalties on Kosice, the Black Wings took the lead with 12:16 played through Top Scorer Dan DaSilva.

That lead carried over into the middle session, and was doubled not long into the period. Having killed off a minor on Marc-Andre Dorion, that man DaSilva popped up again to double the Black Wings' lead - Rob Hisey getting the assist again. Things for even better for the hosts just after the halfway mark as Brian Lebler netted at 31:06, giving them a 3-0 lead and leaving Kosice staring elimination in the face. The Slovaks responded shortly before the break with Marek Bartanus putting them on the board at 37:38 to make it 3-1 Black Wings after 40 minutes.

Knowing that a defeat would eliminate them, Kosice needed a big response at the start of the third period – and boy did they get it. Jake Suja pulled the deficit back to one goal with his effort at 43:17 and then just shy of four minutes later, with Dani Oberkofler in the box, Eduard Sedivy ripped a snapshot past Michael Ouzas to tie the game at 46:52. And if that wasn't enough drama, more was yet to come. With just under five minutes to go Bartanus capitalised on a turnover puck in the neutral zone, and shot through Ouzas to put the visitors 4-3 ahead. Into the final minutes, and the Black Wings were unable to take use of a powerplay with 3:30 to go. Linz coach Rob Daum decided, despite an equal head-to-head record with Kosice, to pull the goalie in search of the tying goal, but the Black Wings were unable to find a way through and Kosice held on for a huge win which had seemed unlikely so 20 minutes before.

"We blew a three-goal lead. Any time you have a three-goal lead you should win, especially at home," conceded Black Wings head coach Rob Daum after the game. "It was late in the second period and we didn't do a very good job. We gave them some chances on the power play and they took advantage."

A delighted Rotislava Cada, head coach of HC Kosice, added that "the main reason for our victory is our fighting spirit. The first two periods were very weak from our team. For the next game we are expecting same fighting spirit, discipline and organization. I will be very pleased if we are able to achieve the same result as today."

Both sides are now locked on three points each, and the results of their respective visits to Bern will decide who advances to the next round.