State of play in Group B: Kometa & Malmö clash for top spot
Malmö and KalPa are fighting for the last play-off place, but the Redhawks are in command (Photo: Anders Bjurö / BILDBYRÅN)
As things stand now in Group B, Kometa Brno are clear to the next round, leaving two teams left competing for the other spot. The Malmö Redhawks are almost there but KalPa Kuopio still have a fighting chance as well. The Stavanger Oilers have a chance to play spoilers and overtake KalPa for 3rd place.
| Group B | Pts | GP | W | OW | L | OL | GF | GA | Dif |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Kometa Brno – Q | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 8 | + 5 |
| 9 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 12 | + 4 | |
3. KalPa Kuopio | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 17 | – 5 |
| 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 12 | – 4 |
What's at stake:
Kometa
- have already secured a spot in the Round of 16.
- could potentially still be tied in points by third-placed KalPa, but hold the tiebreaker by virtue of winning both head-to-head meetings.
- would clinch first place in Group B with a regulation win on Tuesday against Malmö. With anything less than that, they'll still have a chance to do it on Gameday 6 in Malmö.
Malmö
- need 1 point to advance to the next round. This is because they hold the tie-breaker with KalPa by virtue of out-scoring them 10-8 in their two head-to-head meetings.
- If they fail to get that point, 1st in the group would be out of the question but they would still clinch if KalPa fail to win in regulation on Wednesday.
- if they fail to clinch this week, they will have another chance at home to Kometa on Gameday 6.
KalPa
- are in a difficult position in that they trail Malmö and Kometa by 5 and 6 points respectively and would lose the tiebreaker with both. That means that they must take the maximum 6 points from their two games with Stavanger and also hope that Malmö lose twice in regulation to Kometa.
- If Malmö pick up any points on Tuesday in Brno, they will already be eliminated by the time they hit the ice at home on Wednesday.
Stavanger
- have been one of the unluckier teams in this year's competition in that they've been in all four games but have just 1 point to show for it, losing each time by one goal.
- have been eliminated from possible playoff contention, but would still like to win a game and if they win both games against KalPa, they would finish 3rd in the group.
Game Day 5:
Kometa Brno vs Malmö Redhawks, Tuesday 3 October, 19:30 CET, DRFG Arena.
KalPa Kuopio vs Stavanger Oilers, Wednesday 4 October, 18:00 CET/19:00 EET, Niiralan Monttu.