- Munich topped Group G, went to Final last year
- Minsk finished 2nd in Group D, making 1st Round of 16 appearance
- Both teams have won 5 league games in a row
Group D runners-up Yunost Minsk host Group G winners Red Bull Munich in the first game of their Round of 16 match-up. Last year, Munich were the first German team to advance beyond this stage and rode that momentum all the way to the Final. This year, Minsk became the first Belarusian team to get this far and they’d like to go farther.
Domestically, Munich lead the DEL with a 12-point lead on the Straubing Tigers while Minsk are second in the Belarusian Extraliga, 10 points back of Neman Grodno. Both teams enter Tuesday’s game on five-game winning streaks, although it’s important to note that the Belarusian league played right up till Sunday, whereas the DEL – like many European leagues – took a break last week for international tournaments, so this will be Munich’s first game as a team in nine days.
Yunost struggled a bit after their last CHL Group-Stage game, taking only two points from the next three games, but since then are riding high. Their most recent outing was a 3-1 win in Zhlobin on Sunday. Munich also lost their first game after Game Day 6, won their next five games, most recently a 1-0 shutout over Bremerhaven.