- The THOMAS SABO Ice Tigers are looking to win back-to-back games at home
- Kärpät Oulu are one of three teams left with a perfect winning record
- The last meeting between the two sides ended in a huge 9 - 3 win for Kärpät
The THOMAS SABO Ice Tigers play host to Kärpät Oulu from Finland on Sunday night, looking to make it two wins in a row for the German side, but fully aware of just how tough it will be coming in against Kärpät. In the first meeting between the two sides, Kärpät dominated their way to a huge 9 - 3 win, in a game full of bad blood that saw five players ejected, so there will be plenty to keep an eye on in this weekend’s rematch, after a total of 171 penalty minutes handed out.
In Group F of this year’s Champions Hockey League, the Ice Tigers are currently holding on to second place, just a point ahead of Mountfield HK, who they defeated in overtime on Thursday night, thanks to an early goal from Chris Brown in the extra session.
They'll look to top scorer Brandon Buck to be the go to guy when they face Kärpät this weekend, with the veteran forward enjoying a great start to his time with the team, leading the team with five points through three games so far.
Netminder Niklas Treutle wasn't between the pipes for the first meeting between the two sides, and in his two appearances for the Ice Tigers he's helped them to two narrow wins against Mountfield and has pulled of some heroic stops early on in the tournament.
Kärpät on the other hand are just one of three teams yet to drop any points, picking up three regulation wins so far against their Sunday night opponents, as well as two wins against the Rouen Dragons, and their 17 goals through three games ties them with Skellefteå AIK for the most in the Champions Hockey League, with a tournament best +12 goal difference.
Michael Krištof had an incredible game last team the two sides met, assisting on four goals, while Nicklas Lasu is the main man to watch this weekend, leading the side with four goals and six points in total. Young forward Aleksi Heponiemi has enjoyed a fine start to his first year with the side, scoring once and assisting on one for two points in his first three games, just a year after posting a huge 118 point season in the Western Hockey League for the Swift Current Broncos.
Depending on other results, a win for Kärpät on Sunday could see them qualify for the next round of competition.