Red Bull Salzburg will welcome Fribourg-Gottéron to Eisarena Salzburg with precious points on the line in the tail end of the first leg of the 2022/23 campaign.

Both clubs have been excellent on the road and at home, but Fribourg have been particularly dominating away from BCF Arena, posting two shutouts all the while potting five total tallies. The Swiss side’s only loss came at the hands of the Stavanger Oilers, a 1-0 decision, on Game Day 2, but since then Fribourg have cemented themselves as the challenger to beat in Group E.Their 0.75 goals against per game ranks first in the CHL and the Swiss’ special teams have been exceptional.

They currently hold the best powerplay conversion percentage (36.36%) and second-best penalty kill percentage (93.33%) – only Salzburg sport a higher percentage – which is a product of the fantastic tandem that is Connor Hughes and Reto Berra in net who’ve let in a combined 3 goals. Both netminders have been lights out so far this season, posting 98.25 and 96.15 save percentages and 0.51 and 1.00 goals against averages, respectively.

The Austrians have found their rhythm through the first four games, notching ten goals in four contests. Curiously, though, each contest has been a one-goal affair. In their last tilt against Ilves Tampere, Salzburg narrowly skated away with a shootout victory. Going up against one of the best defences in the CHL, the Austrians will need to maintain their disciplined play and stellar special teams; they’ll also need more contributions from up and down the roster.

Peter Schneider leads the team with one goal and five assists with Ali Wukovits in second with two tallies and two helpers. A more balanced attack would go a long way in ensuring Salzburg skate away with the victory as the Austrians currently sit second in the standings but only trail Fribourg by a pair of points.