It's a vital meeting between Oceláři Třinec and Storhamar Hamar in Champions Hockey League Group E action on Tuesday night, with both teams on the verge of being knocked out of contention of qualifying for the knockout rounds, with Třinec sat third in the group on four points, while Storhamar are bottom with three points.

Both sides have just one win for to their name, with Třinec defeating Djurgården Stockholm for their only win, while Storhamar’s win came in the form of a shootout over Tappara Tampere thanks to a heroic performance from Patrick Thorensen who added to his regulation goal with three in the shootout to seal the win.

It's been a disappointing campaign for Oceláři Třinec so far in the CHL, which has been a polar opposite of the performance last year which saw them finish third in the competition.

Netminder Šimon Hrubec struggled in the opening four games, highlighting the struggles for the Czech side as last year’s MVP currently has a 4.29 goals against average through four games which is miles away from the 1.07 average through 10 games last year that earned him Most Valuable Player honours. The positives though are back in domestic competition as Hrubec seems to have returned to form so should be much improved over the final two games as they look to make a final push for qualification.

They'll also need their offense to improve, after four games only seven teams have scored less than the nine goals they've managed so far, and they'll rely on the likes of Aron Chmielewski who leads the team in goals in this year’s CHL, as well as Vladimír Dravecký who leads the team in points with a goal and three assists in the teams opening four games.

Storhamar on the other hand have had bright moments in their return to the CHL, but in a very tough Group E haven't quite managed to pull off the upsets they would have wanted so far, with close score lines in all but one game that ended in a devastating 6 - 1 loss to Tappara back in September.

Back in Norway, Storhamar come into their fifth game in this year’s CHL in top spot again, and have blown away the competition with 40 goals in just 10 games. Team captain Patrick Thorensen has been in fine form, scoring a quarter of all of the team's goals, and he'll be the one to watch for Storhamar in this meeting. Meanwhile both team netminders Jonas Strand and Oskar Östlund have impressed in domestic action, and will look to carry that momentum into the final two CHL meetings as they make a last attempt at qualifying, much like they did in their first CHL appearance back in the 2015-16 season.