This is a match-up of two teams with a wealth of experience in the Champions Hockey League, with Skellefteå AIK competing for the eighth time and Dynamo Pardubice for the fourth. Skellefteå made the Semi-Finals way back in 2014/15 but since then have advanced no further than the Quarter-Finals. Pardubice have had considerably less success, and are looking to reach the Round of 16 for the first time.

Pardubice opened their CHL schedule this season with a 3-1 loss on home ice to Ilves Tampere. Lukáš Radil scored the team’s lone goal, making him their top scorer at this point. Next week, Pardubice play their final two CHL home games of the season against the Stavanger Oilers and ERC Ingolstadt.

Skellefteå, meanwhile, opened with a 4-0 home-ice win over Red Bull Salzburg on Friday. Rickard Hugg and Oskar Vuollet each recorded two points and David Rautio made 13 saves for the shutout. Next week they head on the road and will face Tappara Tampere and HC Košice.

This is the first time these two teams will face each other in the CHL but Skellefteå have had trouble against Czech opponents in the past. Previously, they lost to HC Plzeň in the 2018/19 Quarter-Finals and to Sparta Prague in the 2021/22 Round of 16.

They also beat Oceláři Třinec in two close group-stage games last year. Pardubice won once in six games against HV71 Jönköping, Färjestad Karlstad and Frölunda Gothenburg.