Tappara Tampere vs Adler Mannheim

One of Tappara and Mannheim will exit the CHL tonight after Lugano booked their place in the next round earlier this week.

Simply, Tappara have to win in regulation time, otherwise the Liiga champions will go out of the competition. Mannheim are through with at least an overtime or shootout loss because they would have a better head-to-head against the Finns. Tappara have failed to win at home this season in the CHL, while Mannheim are without a point on the road – making it all the more intriguing.

"Only a win will do. We know a lot about the opponent and we need to play better than we did in Mannheim," said Tappara forward Jukka Peltola. "Mannheim play quite a simple game, so we can't play too complex a game either. We have to put pressure on their defence and it will be good. Their d-men won't be able to stay with us when our forwards do the job."

"If we play our system, then we're on the right track," says Mannheim defenceman Mathieu Carle. "All three games so far have shown that in this difficult group, we are right there with these teams. We beat Tampere at home, now we have to beat them on the road." 

In the first meeting between these teams in Mannheim, Die Adler won 4-1. "In the first game, the special teams played an important role – we were good on the power play and penalty-kill. If we succeed again and we stay away from the penalty box, then I'm very optimistic," says Carle.