Frolunda edged past Pardubice while Nitra got their first ever CHL win in an exciting Champions Hockey League evening.
Frolunda Gothenburg 5–2 Dynamo Pardubice
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Three first-period goals put Frolunda Gothenburg almost out of sight of Dynamo Pardubice, and despite the visitors fighting back to 3-2, they were unable to tie the game and the defending champions added an empty netter late on to get a 4-2 win.
"I think we played really good in the first period, not nearly as good in the second but fought well in the third and eventually came out with a fair win, I believe,” said Frolunda's netminder Johan Gustafson. "I think we lost our way a bit and had a hard time getting up and playing at our normal standard. We faced a really good team and it eventually looks like that when you drop a bit of intensity, you’re giving them the finger and they take the hand. But it’s a part of the game and you have to stay alert at all times.”
HK Nitra 2–1 HC Pilsen
Over in Slovakia, Nitra entertained Pilsen is a thoroughly entertaining match. Having gone ahead in the first and seeing their lead pegged back in the second, Nitra rallied to win the game in the final period and get their first CHL win!
Nitra goalie Valent summed up, “I'm very glad we won. It was an excellent game with a perfect finish for us. We knew that Pilsen had already played one game, so we were really active from the start of the game. I am glad we achieved this historic win for Nitra in the CHL. Personally, I felt excellent on the ice and enjoyed the game. With regards to advancing, we are going game by game. We have a hard game in Pilsen coming up and we have to concentrate on that.”
“You can't win 'em all,” sighed Pilsen defeneman Peter Ceresak. “We traveled here six hours by bus and but we can't make excuses for it. Simply, we have to play well even after a difficult journey. The atmosphere here in Nitra was brilliant.” A Slovak who has played in Nitra before, Ceresnak said, “I told my teammates before the game that there would be a lot of fans here and it would be loud.”