Tappara Tampere took a 2-1 shootout victory against Sparta Prague to open up their 2024/25 Champions Hockey League bid. Excellent netminding was seen on both sides, but it was the Finns' Juha Metsola who helped his team secure their first points of the tournament. On the opposing bench, Dynamo Pardubice easily did away with their Hungarian challengers, Fehérvár AV19, by the tune of 7-0 to claim their first win of the campaign.

Five different players had multiple points for Pardubice in their Game Day 1 derby, as the Czech side's offence was in full force from the get-go. 42 seconds into the contest, Lukáš Radil assisted on a Peter Čerešňák tally, and from there, the Hungarians would continue to chase the hosts for the remainder of the game. Former NHLer, Jiří Smejkal, put on a show for his new team, netting a goal and assisting on two powerplay markers to help his team cement their eventual victory.

While the Czechs did prove they have the firepower necessary to find the back of the net, it was Pardubice's ability to expose Fehérvár's defence that made the difference as they pelted the netminder with 42 shots. Having this same success against a much more disciplined defence corps. in Tappara will be the question mark for the hosts heading into this contest. If they're able to exercise the same shot output, then another victory could be in hand.

Surprisingly, the Finns entered their match-up against Sparta as the underdogs with only a 27% expected win chance while the Czechs held a 3.05 expected goals average. These numbers, of course, wouldn't tell the whole story and, in fact, Tappara's ability to withstand Sparta's efforts in the mid-danger and high-danger areas of the ice proved to be their savior en route to their shootout win.

However, an excellent effort on defence didn't necessarily translate to a spectacular showing on offence for the Finns. Looking ahead to their match-up against another tough opponent in Pardubice, Tappara will need to find a way to generate more high-danger chances - they only had two against Sparta - if they hope to solve the Czechs' suffocating defence.