Pinguins Bremerhaven will face an uphill battle against the reigning CHL Champions as they suit up for their Quarter-Finals Return Game against Genève-Servette at Eisarena Bremerhaven. The Germans carry the burden of a four-goal deficit, which they'll be forced to claw back from to have any chance of a Semi-Finals appearance.

For the Swiss side, it was a repeated, and flawless, First Game performance, and very much reminiscent of the Round of 16 where they overpowered compatriots Lausanne HC 5-0 to secure their entry into the Quarter-Finals. 

Bremerhaven have been superb on special teams, in particular their man-advantage time, where they sport the second-best powerplay conversion in the league of 25.64%. To date, Slovenian forward Jan Urbas (6G, 5A) has been instrumental in that statistic netting three powerplay goals over nine appearances. Aside from that, the Germans also top the CHL leaderboards with a stunning FOW rate of 57.20%.

Despite this, and outshooting their opponents 35-22 during the First Game against Genève, finding the back of the net proved challenging. As Bremerhaven look to break that deadlock, all eyes will be on a much-needed offensive execution from the likes of Urbas, as well as Top Scorer Žiga Jeglič (3G, 9A) who is averaging over a goal per game.

On the other side of the bench, Genève have excelled in two areas making them formidable opponents: they have the top penalty kill in the league (93.10%), and they're averaging a phenomenal 4.11 goals per game.

The Swiss team have looked to the likes of Sakari Manninen (1G, 8A) and defenceman Simon Le Coultre (2G, 7A) for assistance up front as the two are currently averaging a stellar point per game, while scoring has been evenly distributed among the forwards.

Between the pipes, Bremerhaven's Maximilian Franzreb is sitting on a healthy 93.13% SV% and 1.78 GAA, placing him in the top 12 among netminders. For comparison, veteran goaltender Antti Raanta sports a 97.78 SV% and is ranked second following his second shutout in three games.

With 35-year-old Raanta averaging 0.67 GAA per game, Bremerhaven are going to have their work cut out on offence, but it's not an insurmountable task. As evidenced during their last game, the Germans had more offensive chances, but were unlucky not to find the back of the net. 

With qualification for the Semi-Finals up for grabs and the advantage of home-ice, expect offensive fireworks from Bremerhaven, and a tightly controlled defensive game from the Swiss side.