The Norwegians were one lucky bounce away from winning their first CHL fixture of the season, as they managed to score twice in the third and force OT against Red Bull Salzburg. But what could have been was not what was as the Austrian side handed the Stavanger Oilers a disappointing defeat in OT.

Stavanger were outmatched in the early going of their opener against Salzburg, but that would change as the game wore on. Despite being heavily outshot, Stavanger managed to stave off the Austrians’ advances enough to keep it close, only giving up a goal in the first 40 minutes.

Then the third period came and so did the goals with the Norwegians scoring twice in a span of five minutes. Bryce Gervais was first on the board, followed by Paul Bittner who leveled things again, this time on the powerplay. After coming back not once but twice, it appeared Stavanger had a shot at claiming the three points. But a tenacious Salzburg doused their hopes in an OT that was widely theirs to lose.

Now Stavanger have another tough test in Fribourg-Gottéron who’ve been excellent in the Group Stage thus far.

The Swiss side was in danger of losing their first Group Stage match since the 2016/17 season when they fell to Red Bull Munich 3-1. Fribourg struck first on the powerplay three minutes in, and that would be the only tally until Ilves Tampere's Tommi Tikka netted the equaliser in the second.

Janne Kuokkanen notched his second of the game, a shorthanded goal that slid through the pads of the Czech netminder, and from there it seemed like the home side were in control. A Matthias Rossi penalty, however, gave the Finns some life as Ilves successfully converted on the man-advantage to tie the game up once again.

Fortunately, it would be Rossi who scored the go-ahead goal and, despite a strong push from the visitors, Fribourg were able to hold on to the lead and secure their three points.