Kometa entered the game having already advanced and needing 3 points to claim 1st place in the group. Malmö needed at least a point to claim advancement and keep their shot at 1st place alive. Both couldn’t get exactly what they wanted, but after Kometa’s 5-4 overtime victory, both are more or less satisfied.

In fact, for most of the night, it looked like Kometa’s game to win in regulation time. They were ahead 2-0 after one period and 4-1 early in the third, but Malmö battled back. It began in an unexpected way, with the home team going to the penalty kill in the first minute, only to have Leoš Čermák open the scoring on a shorthanded wrap-around at 1:03. Then just over three minutes later it was 2-0 after a nifty give-and-go play started and finished by Martin Zaťovič, with Martin Erat kicking the puck back with his stick tied up.

Max Görtz got Malmö on the board just shy of the game’s midpoint with a one-time blast on the power play, but three minutes later, Zaťovič and Erat worked their magic together again to score Kometa’s second shorty of the game – this time, Erat was the triggerman. When Tomáš Svoboda made it 4-1 at the 52-second mark of the third period, it looked like Kometa’s name could be engraved in the group’s top position.

But the Redhawks came roaring back with three goals over the next 4:16. First, it was Nichlas Hardt firing a shot past a screened Marek Čiliak, then Tuukka Mäntylä’s low blast found the corner, and finally, a horrible giveaway in the Kometa zone landed right on the stick of Daniel Zaar, who sniped it home.

With no more scoring in regulation time, the game was decided in overtime, where Kometa took back control. Erat’s second goal and third point of the game on a one-time blast from the point got his team the extra point.

The two teams will meet again in Malmö next week with top spot in the group still on the line. The Redhawks will need to win in regulation time to claim it, otherwise, it will go to Kometa.