The Växjö Lakers stormed back against HK Nitra to cement a 3-1 final and take their first points of the competition while Tappara Tampere were the unlucky recipients of an OT loss thanks to Kölner Haie.

Tappara's OT defeat is indicative of a possible major malfunction within the Finnish system - they have yet to solve the blind spots in their defence. Scoring four goals is great, but allowing five against doesn't necessarily inspire confidence on the bench. Their previous contest against Bílí Tygři Liberec was more in line with their identity, but even then, they saw three go past Juha Metsola. They're currently tied for eighth-worst GAG with 4.00, so fixing their backend would go a long way to increasing their chances of securing a win against the Swedes.

Växjö lost 3-1 and then won 3-1 and now have the chance to achieve consecutive wins. Their rebound against Nitra was impressive in that the Swedes were able to secure three goals in the span of five minutes. This is encouraging news, but it's important to note that Nitra's defence is among the league's most inefficient, so tempering expectations against a much stronger side in Tappara is a must. The Swedes have the ability to match the pace with the Finns, but their deciding factor will be having all four lines running. If they can get successful reps from all four lines, a win is more than manageable.