Liberec, Dusseldorf and Kosice all assured their berths in the Round of 32 with wins – Dusseldorf and Kosice in shootouts. IFK Helsinki also had a chance, but lost to Linkoping, who clinch 1st in their group along with Frolunda.
HC Kosice 2–1 KAC Klagenfurt (SO)
HIGHLIGHTS
It was a dominant effort by Kosice on home ice, out-shooting Klagenfurt 39–19 through 65 minutes of hockey, but needed a shootout to win and secure their place in the next round. Jiri Becek opened the scoring with 5:00 left in the second period and it looked like that might be enough to get Kosice through, but Kevin Kapstad tied it with 5:30 left in regulation time. The teams went end-to-end in overtime but Pekka Tuokkola and Dominik Riecicky continued to be solid. In the shootout, 3 out of 4 Kosice shooters scored to put it away.
“I think Kosice played a really good game in the middle period, and we didn't,” appraised Klagenfurt head coach Doug Mason. “In the final period we came out better and tied the game, but they showed their skill in the shootout and deserved the win. Of course you're disappointed to lose, but they deserved it today and go to the next round.”
“It was a really important game for us,” said Kosice coach Peter Oremus. “Klagenfurt were a good opponent, it was tough game. We changed goalies, Riecicky played well in the pre-season and showed that he has good qualities. I’m glad that we’ve made it to the playoffs, also for the fans in Kosice, who get to see games against teams from all over Europe. I thank the coach of Klagenfurt for a great game. Now we wait to see who we play next and we’ll do our best to advance further and to bring more international hockey to Kosice.”
TPS Turku 1–2 Dusseldorfer EG (SO)
HIGHLIGHTS
Dusseldorf join the Round of 32 by taking the necessary 2 points in Turku, going right down to the wire and winning it in a shootout, where Eduard Lewandowski scored the only goal. Tomi Kallio and Daniel Kreutzer traded goals in the first period, but then Teemu Lassila and Robert Goepfert were perfect over the last 45 minutes of hockey.
“I think we were the better team today from the start,” opined Dusseldorf head coach Christof Kreutzer. “We worked hard, and needed the points. The shootout is a lottery, but we had a great goalie today – after the first goal! We're in the next round now, but we need a good game on Sunday against Linz as we want to win every game. For me, our fans are the best in the world! At the home games they're unbelievable, and for so many to come to Turku – it's expensive, and midweek when they need to take holidays, it's great. I love them.”
“Difficult game today,” said TPS coach Ari-Pekka Selin. “We were tired, we played at such a high tempo. We made many bad mistakes with the puck. It's good that we lasted 60 minutes and got one point. We had good penalty killing today, very good. And of course Lassila was fantastic.”
JYP Jyvaskyla 1–4 Frolunda Gothenburg
In a game between two teams that had already advanced, but with first place in Group N on the line, Frolunda went into Jyvaskyla and won to give themselves home-ice advantage in the second leg of the Round of 32. As usual, Frolunda's power play was deadly, scoring all 4 of their goals with the man adavantage on 8 opportunities, while JYP were 0-for-4. Spencer Abbott scored 2 goals, Ryan Lasch had 2 assists and Joel Lundqvist was 1 + 1 for Frolunda, while Joonas Nattinen scored JYP's lone goal in the 25th minute.
“We were playing against a good Finnish team,” Frolunda coach Roger Ronnberg said about his opponents. “I am satisfied with the team spirit, the players were playing for each other and blocked a lot of shots. We are at the start of the season so I hope we can still get better in most parts of our play.”
IFK Helsinki 1–2 Linkoping HC
HIGHLIGHTS
IFK Helsinki started strong in a game where they could have advanced with a win, carrying the edge in play and scoring the first period's only goal, courtesy Cramo Top Scorer Mika Partanen. Linkoping came back with a big push in the second, however, and scored twice – Gustav Forsling on the power play and then Nichlas Hardt with 55 seconds left in the period. IFK had chances to equalize in the third with four straight power plays, including one in the final minute with their goaltender out, and they peppered Marcus Hogberg from every angle but couldn't get it. IFK Helsinki will have to rely on help from Linkoping in Bern on Saturday in order to advance.
“It was a tough game. We knew they were gonna come hard and I think we adjusted pretty good and played a good game. We got better as the game went on,” said Hardt, the winning goal scorer. About the upcoming game in Bern, he added, “It’s gonna be another tough game and we wanna do our best like every game. We’re gonna go home now and practice some more and prepare well for the game against Bern.”
“Linkoping were very good in the beginning of the first period, but we managed to turn it around and take control of the game,” said IFK Helsinki head coach Antti Tormanen. “We played well after the first goal and got some chances on the power play in the beginning of the second. A few stupid penalties gave the game away to the opponent and they took a 2-1 lead. In the third we did what we could and got the some opportunities on the power play but just couldn’t get the puck in. We haven’t scored on the power play in the CHL this season and that just isn’t good. The opponents we’ve faced are top-notch teams and if you lose control of the game the other team will get in on it and take over.”
Bili Tygri Liberec 2–0 HK Nitra
HIGHLIGHTS
Liberec entered the game knowing they needed only a point to secure their berth in the CHL's Round of 32, but won it outright anyway with their second shutout win in a row over Nitra. They got all the offence they needed on the power play, courtesy Martin Bakos in the first period and Branko Radivojevic in the last minute of the second, and the team played perfect team defence around Jan Lasak, who only needed to stop 13 shots for the shutout.
“They took advantage of their power plays and dominated all game long,” Nitra coach Antonin Stavjana said after his team's last CHL game of the year. “We played with too much respect and we need to be more aggressive at both ends of the ice. Congratulations to Liberec.”
“We started the game very actively and were a much better team in the first period,” acknowledged Liberec coach Filip Pesan, whose team still has one more group-stage game to go before the playoffs. “After that, Nitra were able to battle with us as we played a bad second period and the third one was very tight. We had more scoring chances, but our finishing was terrible. It was a very different game than the one in Nitra and we’re happy to come out victorious.”