In Friday's action, four of the six games were won by the away teams – the exceptions were home-ice wins by Eisbaren Berlin and HC Davos.
Esbjerg Energy 3–8 EV Zug
In two previous tries EV Zug were unable to get out of the CHL Group Stage. This year they're off to the right start, however, with a 8-3 win in Esbjerg to open Group G.
Esbjerg Energy had an energetic start to the game, fuelled by their active fans, but penalties slowed their momentum. Zug scored the game's first two goals – one just after a power play had ended and one on the power play – and then Tyler Fiddler scored Esberg's first-ever CHL goal on a power play of their own at 15:53, recovering the puck after a Tobias Stephan poke-check and putting the puck into the open net.
Zug opened the second period with four straight goals in a 10-minute – two from Jarkko Immonen – to take a 6-1 lead, and from their cruised to the 8-3 victory. Carl Klingberg and Rafael Diaz each had a goal and two assists for the victors, while Sune Hjulmand and captain Brock Nixon each had a goal and an assist for Esbjerg.
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Comarch Cracovia 1–5 Farjestad Karlstad
As was the case on Wednesday, Cracovia were under siege early on their home ice, this time from Farjestad. They opened the scoring early on a power-play goal by Milan Gulas on a deflection, but Cracovia answered before the period's midpoint, with Damian Kapica recovering a rebound and backhanding it in from a tight angle. Farjestad opened up the game in the second, however, with three goals – two of them on nice shots by Per Aslund – to lead 4-1.
The final score was 5-1, making it two valliant efforts on home ice for Cracovia, but two losses nonetheless against stiff opponents.
Grizzlys Wolfsburg 1–2 Frolunda Gothenburg
Frolunda Gothenburg began defence of their CHL crown the hard way, falling behind early in Wolfsburg and waiting until the third period to finally score twice and salvage a 2-1 win. For the Grizzlys and especially for goaltender Sebastian Vogl, it was an admirable CHL debut.
After a scoreless first period, in which Frolunda had an 11-5 edge in shots, Gerrit Fauser opened the scoring for Wolfsburg early in the second on a big rebound. And after that, Frolunda tried and tried, but Wolfsburg held them off for the rest of the period, much to the delight of their fans.
In the third period, Frolunda finally broke through and scored twice in a 2:23 span – first Casey Wellman in his first game as an Indian, and then Victor Olofsson on a beautiful deflection. In the last minute, Carl Grundstrom nearly put the game away with an empty-netter but hit the goalpost from inside the crease. That gave Wolfsburg a chance to call a timeout and have one more chance, but 2-1 is how it ended.
Eisbaren Berlin 2–1 Lulea Hockey
Lulea Hockey were the odds-on favourite to win Group I – and they still very well might – but they didn't get off to the start they wanted by dropping a 2-1 decision to Eisbaren Berlin. With Petri Vehanen and Joel Lassinantti at either end of the ice, a low-scoring game was to be expected and it was – the 30 minutes passing without a score.
Then the two teams traded goals within a four-minute span – first Micki Dupont stuffed in a rebound for Die Eisbaren, then Kael Moullierat with a nice deflection on the power play to even it up. The game was decided midway through the third on an Eisbaren power play, when Frank Hoerdler's shot from the top of the slot found space between Lassinantti's pads.
Gap Rapaces 1–4 JYP Jyvaskyla
The Gap Rapaces showed last season that Alp Arena isn't an easy place for a visiting team to play, and JYP Jyvaskyla found that out on Friday. Still, they persevered and got the offence they needed in a short period of time.
Les Rapaces employed a physical, tight checking system and nearly got out of the first period without any damage, but Robert Rooba converted a rebound in the 17th minute to get JYP on the board. In the second period, they broke it open with three goals in the first three minutes. Defenceman Juuso Pulli and forwards Anssi Lofman and Rooba each recorded two points for the victors. Cedric Di dio Balsamo closed the gap to three goals on a breakaway in the third period, but that's as close as the birds of prey would come.
HC Davos 4–1 Rouen Dragons
Semi-Finalists in last year's CHL, HC Davos started with a strong offensive push against newcomers the Rouen Dragons. However, thanks to solid goaltending from Dany Saborin, who stopped 36 of 40 shots overall, it was 1-1 after 20 minutes – Mark Wieser and Patrick Coulombe trading goals.
Davos got themselves some breathing room with a pair of goals in the second period – Dario Simion on a 3-on-2 rush and Marc Aeschlimann – and then Rouen came on in the third and Joren von Pottelberghe, who entered the game in relief midway through, had to be solid. Simion put it away with his second goal late.