- Storhamar need both a regulation win and Tappara to win in regulation to move onto the next round
- Oceláři Třinec are already eliminated
- Patrick Thorensen secured victory on game day five with a late goal
Storhamar Hamar could pull of a miraculous feat of making the round of 16 when it looked like a far-off dream ahead of game day five. Some late heroics from none other than their captain Patrick Thorensen secured victory against Oceláři Třinec, meaning the Czech side who finished third in last year’s Champions Hockey league are out of contention to advance.
The team from Norway still need a bit of help to make it through to the next round in their first CHL appearance since 2015-16 but if Tappara Tampere can defeated Djurgården Stockholm in regulation, and Storhamar grab a regulation as they host Třinec, it could see the team leapfrog Djurgården into that all important second spot, but with Tappara already through and secured the top spot in the Group, they'll need to hope the Finnish side don't take their foot off the pedal because if Stockholm can even force overtime, that'll be the end of the line for Storhamar.
Thorensen has been the danger man all tournament long for Storhamar, notching five goals and adding an assist for a team leading 6 points while defenseman Joel Johansson is second with two goals and three assists to his name heading into Tuesday night’s meeting.
It's been a disappointing CHL campaign for Oceláři Třinec after their third-place finish last year, and they'll be looking to finish on a high note after a late goal last week crushed their hopes of reviving their chances of a playoff berth.
There will be no repeat MVP performance from Šimon Hrubec after the Třinec netminder missed out on the start last week after a rocky start to his CHL campaign, while backup Peter Hamerlík hasn't done much better with both netminders allowing over 4 goals a game on average.
With the team out of the running you may seem them look to get redemption from last week’s loss, or give Hamerlík more game time to keep Hrubec rested for their domestic campaign, but you can expect their forwards like Vladimír Dravecký and Michal Kovařčík to continue to impress, as well as defenseman Milan Doudera who all have three assists on the tournament so far, with Dravecky leading the team with four points adding a goal to his name in the three games he's featured in this year.
With the CHL campaign done for Třinec after Tuesdays matchup, they'll turn their attention to their domestic campaign while Storhamar may know their fate before their game even ends as Tappara and Djurgården face off an hour before this potentially group deciding matchup.