Tappara Tampere will try for their fourth win when they face off against the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers who will be looking to go above .500 for the first time on the season.

The reigning Champions Hockey League Champions experienced their first loss of the season as they surrendered five goals to Swedish side Skellefteå AIK in a surprising 5-2 decision. Star netminder Christian Heljanko was anything but on a night that saw the Finnish backstop only stop 21 of 26 shots while the Finns’ offence, despite netting three goals, was equally underperforming, only firing 18 total shots on net.

Fortunately, Tappara should be able to bounce back against a Rapperswil side that has been giving up an average of 4.25 goals per game and sports the lowest PK percentage at 66.67%.

For the Swiss, a 5-2 victory over Slovakian side HC Košice was what they needed after falling to Lukko Rauma in their Game Day 3 contest. Gian-Marco Wetter opened the scoring and added an assist to give him five points (1G, 4A) through four games and Melvin Nyffeler earned his second win of the Regular Season after stopping 14 of 16 shot attempts.

Securing their third win and keeping their Playoff hopes alive, however, will be a bit of a challenge as they’ll have to contend with one of the league’s top netminders in Heljanko along with the Finns’ second-ranked defence that’s only allowing an average of 1.75 goals against per game.

While their woes on the penalty kill are in need of adjustment, though, Rapperswil-Jona’s 3.75 goals per game have them ranked in seventh place league wide, while their powerplay is operating at a respectable 23.53%, also good enough for seventh.