HC Bern now have nine points from three games and will finish first in Group M, after a 3-1 victory over HC Kosice. Read more in Gamecentre. 

In their first two away games in Group M, SC Bern were unbeatable. They continued that trend on home ice with a dominant performance over HC Kosice and a 3-1 win. With the maximum nine points from three games, they have secured top spot in the group. 

In front of a loud and energetic home crowd, they got going right away when Luca Hirschier scored an amazing goal less than two minutes in, shooting the puck as he was hauled down and beating Vladislav Habal. The referee's arm shot up immediately, but of course the goal washed out the power play. 

Still, Bern would get plenty of other chances on the power play throughout the game, as Kosice had trouble dealing with their team speed. By the end of the second period, four of the game's five penalties had gone against Kosice, not counting the one washed out by Hirschier's goal. After 40 minutes that was also the game's only goal, despite a decisive edge in shots on goal of 34-12.

Of his team's play in the first 40 minutes Bern head coach Kari Jalonen said, "We had some good scoring chances but it was the one-goal game and we had the patience to play our game till the and score those vital two goals."

In the second minute of the third period, Alain Berger scored on a breakaway to put Bern up by two, but Radim Hruska got that one back for Kosice less than three minutes later, taking a pass from Marek Bartanus from behind the net and firing it upstairs to beat Leonardo Genoni.

Kosice still had almost 16 minutes to get another goal, but their comeback hopes were dealt a serious blow when Juraj Mily received a five-minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct just over a minute later. With just over seven minutes to play, Eric Blum's power-play goal – a shot from the point through a screen – restored Bern's two-goal lead and took the wind out of Kosice's sails. 

“We played very well on defence and our goaltender played excellent, but unfortunately we played a lot of the game shorthanded and that took a lot of our energy,” lamented Kosice coach Rostislav Cada. “I'm satisfied with our effort, but based on that I expected a better result.”

The result means that Kosice will nervously watch the group's last game between Bern and Black Wings Linz. If Bern win a fourth straight game in regulation, Kosice will move on. However, if Linz manage to win, or even take the game to overtime, Kosice's CHL season will be over. 

"Genoni was good in goal and defence played good in front of him. Offensively, we were very strong and I liked the physical part we had and the skating we did. We were strong in the battles and they took the penalties," Jalonen thought of the game. As far as the team's CHL experience overall, he said, "The CHL has been very good for us this year. The level of all the countries is very high in terms of hockey skills. Our team's preparation was much better than the last two seasons. That’s why I’m very happy we are now in the playoffs."