Dynamo Pardubice may have finished under Ilves Tampere in the Champions Hockey League Regular Season standings, however, the side from Czechia were in superb form during the First Games of the Round of 16. Their 3-1 victory on the road over the Finnish club secured a two-goal aggregate lead which now places Ilves in a tough position for the Return Game. 

So where did things go wrong for the home side Ilves and right for Pardubice? 

Statistically, Ilves were pegged to win by a slight margin. Expected goals were 1.96 compared to 1.88 for Pardubice. Shots-wise overall, the team from Tampere shot more often than the Czechs did, and even shots on goal were relatively even, but what the CHL shot heatmap reveals is that Pardubice were pulling the trigger from the “danger-zone” of the slot far more regularly compared to Ilves. To be precise, nearly three times as often, thereby contributing to a far better shot efficiency (13% compared to Ilves 4%). 

Defensively Ilves were more disciplined taking a single penalty the whole game, contrasted to the Czechs who gave up four powerplay chances to their rivals. The Finns were lucky enough to capitalise on one of the man-advantage plays but couldn’t find the back of the net on the others. 

Faceoff wins, blocked shots and hits were again all relatively even, which means the rest comes down to offensive prowess and goaltending. 

Pardubice’s offensive damage was managed solely by its second line on the night. The combination of forwards: Lukáš Radil, Tomáš Zohorna, and Robert Kousal picked up all three of the goals. Zohorna currently leads the scoring for his side with six points (1G+ 5A), along with teammate Tomáš Hyka (1G+5A). 

Despite Ilves's strong offensive line-up, its top point-getters were not having much luck on the night. Ville Meskanen was the lone scorer for Ilves, lighting the lamp less than 11 minutes into the period, off a stunning feed from top scorer Šimon Stránský (1G+8A). 

Between the pipes, Roman Will was stellar for the Czechs making 24 saves. The 31-year-old netminder who is in his first season with Pardubice has three wins in regulation, and his save average of 93.59% ranks him as one of the top 10 goalkeepers in the league.  

Compatriot Jakub Málek who made 21 saves, had a tougher night, conceding three goals. The 21-year-old has played the bulk of the minutes for Ilves to date and is averaging 3.55 goals per game (89.53%).   

On special teams, Ilves have performed slightly better with a 23.68% powerplay conversion, (Pardubice has 21.43%), but the Czechs have been dynamite on the dots, winning 54.76% of their faceoffs compared to 46.65% from Ilves. 

With a two-goal aggregate deficit to cover, Ilves are going to need to bridge the gap in multiple areas in order to have any chance of making it into the Quarter-Finals. Preserving the discipline they’ve shown to date is key, but they’re also going to need to contain Pardubice’s top offensive threats, and get deadly with their scoring opportunities.