There was a lot left unsaid out on the ice when HC Davos and HC Pilsen met in the First Game of their Round of 16 series, with tempers flaring throughout the entire game as both teams felt they deserved more from their opening game of the Champions Hockey League Playoffs. Despite that, however, the Swiss take a slim one-goal lead heading into next week's Return Game in Czechia that is set up to be a banging duel!

The game took a quick turn in the Swiss team's favor in the eighth minute, as Adam Tambellini and Frédéric Allard struck quick-fire to push Davos into a 2-0 lead over Pilsen. The hosts of the game failed to add more in the opening period, despite powerplay opportunities and Pilsen were also unable to break open their scoring.

The Swiss got their mojo back early in the second, with Enzo Corvi's swift reaction just 40 seconds in extending the lead to three. However, Pilsen finally broke through thanks to Ville Emil Petman in the 27th minute of the game, lowering Davos's lead by one.

Things boiled over midway through the second period, resulting in a flurry of penalties, including a Game Misconduct that sent Davos's Brendan Lemieux into the locker rooms early. Before the second period was over, Pilsen struck twice more to equalise through Carter Robertson and Petman's second goal of the night, which was later reviewed on video following a Coach's Challenge, but was ultimately confirmed, completing Pilsen's comeback.

The final period saw Ken Jäger score his first of the CHL season to make it 4-3 but Pilsen's Igor Merezhko quickly made it a level game again with a speedy wrister on the rush. Just over three minutes before the final buzzer, Filip Zadina struck to cap off this intense game by a 5-4 for Davos.