Rögle Ängelholm marked their first Champions Hockey League game with a big win over Swiss powerhouse EV Zug. The Swedes opened the scoring as new signing Adam Tambellini registered the side’s first goal in the competition. Zug fought back– scoring two goals in a minute, but Rögle weren’t prepared to let the game slip away and regained control by scoring three in the final period to earn a well-deserved win on home ice.

Though both sides recorded the same number of shots on goal (26), Rögle kept penalty minutes to a minimum and enjoyed four powerplays, scoring on two. The extra man advantage seemed to suit their style of play.

Another key factor that helped the home team cruise to victory were faceoffs – the Swedes won almost twice as many faceoffs than Zug, mainly thanks to specialists Brady Ferguson, who also scored on the night, and Mattias Sjögren.

Winning faceoffs helped them control the puck and start plays, which could be the key to breaking down the solid Munich defence they will come up against on Saturday evening.

Red Bull Munich won their opening game of the new season in style, slotting five into their opponent’s net and controlling the game from start to finish. The DEL side had nearly double the number of shots on goal, won 50% more faceoffs and goaltender Danny aus den Birken posted a 0.950 save percentage, only letting a single goal hit the back of his net.

The only real problem they faced throughout the game were penalties and powerplays. The three-time German champions battled with keeping all five men on the ice and had to fight off six powerplays even going down to just three men for a brief moment. On the plus side, they properly tested their penalty kill unit, which passed with flying colours on all occasions. 

This looks like bad news for Rögle who relied heavily on powerplays to give them more space to combine and create but they’ll have more tricks up their sleeve come Saturday.

As for Munich – the Swedish newcomers will be their first big test of the season. Though their penalty kill unit look resilient, Rögle’s strong faceoff play could hinder their game plan as when not in control of the puck, Munich seem to lose focus and make mistakes. Will they hold up?