Finnish side Ilves Tampere rocked the Nokia Arena with a 3-2 shootout win over Czech challengers Vítkovice Ridera to take their fourth consecutive win of the season.
Ilves managed to turn around a 0-2 game with two second-period goals and two goals in the shootout. Šimon Stránský, the team's scoring leader with seven points (1G,6A) in four games, assisted on Ilves' first of the game and was one of the two successful shootout scorers. How did the game play out in his view?
"Vítkovice played really well"Šimon Stránský, Ilves Tampere
"We were pretty slow at the start," he responded, "Vítkovice played really well - they were faster and had the puck more than us."
The visitors scored early into the game and were successful in keeping the home team off the scoresheet in the opening 30 minutes but some penalties at the mid-way marker proved costly, as Stránský & co. scored on a 5-on-3 powerplay and added the equaliser just minutes later.
"We got much better after the powerplay, that really helped us a lot!" commented the 25-year-old forward.
Four wins and 11 points place Ilves right into the very top positions of the Regular Season Standings and mean they have already secured a position in the Playoffs.
"Vítkovice are my hometown team"Šimon Stránský, Ilves Tampere
Stránský, a Czech native, was born in Ostrava where Vítkovice are based and spent most of his youth years in their development program before making it into the first team for three seasons between 2017 and 2020. How was it facing them again?
"It's always special facing a former club," said Stránský with a smile, "Vítkovice are my hometown team so it was extra special."
"It was really nice to see them and I hope they have a great season like last year," he concluded.
Ilves Tampere's next game in the CHL is against Färjestad Karlstad on Tuesday 10 October at 17:30 CEST.