After falling behind 3-1 to Mountfield HK, the Odense Bulldogs were able to claw their way back, netting two tallies in the span of a little over two minutes. Their efforts would eventually lead to a six-round shootout with Odense's Joakim Thelin engineering the game-winning goal for his club as they took it by a 4-3 final. For their part, however, the reigning Czech Extraliga champions had no issue bypassing their first opponent as Kometa Brno clashed with Brynäs IF and came away with a 4-1 win.

Having not appeared in the Champions Hockey League since the 2018/19 campaign, Kometa's qualification for the competition this time around was a big boonm for the club and they demonstrated just how ready they are to go up against Europe's elite. The Czech side went up 3-0 within the first 25 minutes of the game and, except for the lone goal by Brynäs's Jack Kopacka, looked unstoppable, especially in the defensive zone. 

As they look ahead to their next challenge, having that same confidence on the backend and between the pipes will give Kometa another opportunity to show the other clubs why they may be one of the clubs to beat in this year's iteration.

Odense entered their match-up as the underdogs - no pun intended - but left the arena having taken down a former CHL Finalist in Mountfield. With such a performance, confidence is surely sky high for a team which made its debut this year. Still, another equally impressive challenge awaits the Danish squad and lightning often doesn't strike twice.

In order to take down the reigning Czech champions, Odense will need to maintain the pace of play throughout the contest. Except for those two late goals against Mountfield, Odense were barely making any noise in the offensive zone having fired just 16 shots against the opposing netminder to the Czechs' 50. While their first win was worthy of celebration, their play wasn't. They'll need to match Kometa's intensity if they hope to keep that winning sensation alive.