With 10 teams making their debuts in the Champions Hockey League this year, it’s a season of potential firsts. First goals for players, and first wins for teams, and that’s exactly what happened on Thursday night as HC Ambrì-Piotta defeated Färjestad Karlstad to claim the clubs first ever win in the CHL.
The side from Switzerland carried a two-goal lead into the final minutes of the game with Austrian forward Fabio Hofer opening the scoring early in the second period with his first goal in the CHL since 2016 when he was a member of Black Wings Linz.
“Our goalie was rock solid but this I think we earned what we deserved. The first game in Sweden was tight but we came up short.
“There are some points we can improve, we can score more goals, these three points are important for us, it gives us a lot of confidence for the next games.”
Matt D’Agostini scored a second goal for Ambrì-Piotta midway through the third period, before Färjestad finally got on the scoresheet with less than five minutes remaining through Vojtěch Mozík who finally found a way best netminder Dominik Hrachovina who stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced.
“It was a special moment to celebrate our first win before our amazing fans.”Fabio Hofer following HC Ambrì-Piotta's first ever Champions Hockey League win
The loss is the first of the campaign for Färjestad who came in with a narrow win over Ambrì-Piotta in the home fixture, and a big 6-1 victory of HC05 Banská Bystrica in their opening game.
Ambrì-Piotta now have a short rest before they take on Red Bull Munich on Saturday night, looking to use the home ice to their advantage and take some more crucial points as they look to qualify out of the Group Stage in their debut CHL season.