Group F has seen plenty of shocks this CHL season, and it seems somehow fitting that the race for the last Play-Off place will go down to the wire with Mountfield HK, SC Bern and TPS Turku all in with a chance of making it.
The drama came thanks to Mountfield's 5-4 win over SC Bern tonight in the Czech Republic. The hosts came out of the blocks flying, taking the lead with 2:14 played thanks to captain Jaroslav Bednář on the power play through traffic. With just over five minutes played, Mountfield doubled the lead, as Michal Dragoun was given too much space in the offensive zone to pick his spot and fire past Leonardo Genoni at 5:05. Bern got themselves on the board through Gian Randegger as they gradually got back into the game, but just over two minutes later, Bedřich Köhler had the hosts back two ahead, timed at 17:31.
If that wasn't enough goals then more would follow. Jiří Šimánek poked home into a gaping net at 21:46 as Genoni lost sight of the puck to make it 4-1, and then the Bern fightback slowly started to begin. Simon Moser had the back to within two at the 23-minute mark, and as the period ticked down Marc Kämpf brought it back to 4-3.
A tight final period saw Bern with the better chances, but it was Mountfield who got the next goal – Šimánek again for 5-3. With 4:04 to play Bern again got back to within one, Simeon Bodenmann firing from the slot. Bern pulled Genoni with just over 1:20 to play and had a guilt-edge chance to tie the game with just seconds remaining, but Jakub Sedláček denied from point-blank range for Mountfield to take the points and move up to second in the group.
The result also confirmed Nottingham as group winners, while the other three teams will now all go into next week's games with a chance of making the next round.