After another week of domestic league play, some clubs continued their starting pace while others changed direction a bit. Read how each CHL club fared in the past week.

by Luke Fisher

The European season is now really up and running, ahead of Game Day 5 in the CHL. Here’s how out CHL teams got on domestically!

Austria

Week two of the EBEL got underway on Thursday, with Red Bull Salzburg outskating the Graz 99ers 6-4 in a high-scoring game. Friday saw the Vienna Capitals blank Dornbin out in the far west of Austria 3-0, while Villach took a 5-1 home win over Innsbruck. A rare Saturday game saw Bolzano in Linz, with the Italian side being on the wrong end of a 5-2 score. Linz remain unbeaten, as do Salzburg following their win over Dornbirn (5-1), while Villach lost 3-1 at home to Graz. Olzano bounced back to winning ways with a victory in the Czech Republic, 3-2 in regulation over Orli Znojmo, and Vienna’s tour of the "wild west" ended with a 3-2 win in Innsbruck.

Denmark

Just the one game this weekend for SønderjyskE Vojens, the only side representing Denmark in the CHL. They continued their good form with a 5-2 win over Odense. Despite going a goal down early on, five straight goals in just over a half hour spell saw the hosts run out easy winners.

France

A game-winning goal at 58:15 was enough to deny Briançon Diables Rouges a point in their second game of the Ligue Magnus in France. Having lost their opening game as well, it’s two without a win in the league for the side who beat Grenoble 4-2 in the Cup a few days earlier.

Germany

Eisbären Berlin sit in second place in the DEL after impressive wins against the Hamburg Freezers (7-3) and Iserlohn Roosters (5-2), followed by Adler Mannheim in third who also beat Iserlohn (4-3) and Wolfsburg (7-3). Mannheim came from 3-0 down in their game to overcome the Roosters, and the win over Wolfsburg was their first defeat of the season. Hamburg’s miserable weekend was completed with a home loss to Kölner Haie (3-1), and sees them as the only side in the league without a point to their name after losing both of their CHL openers as well. Köln sit in mid-table, thanks to their win in Hamburg and at home to the Nürnburg Ice Tigers (5-3). Just below them occupying eighth in the league are ERC Ingolstadt, who took a 4-2 in Straubing and a 6-3 home win over Krefeld Pinguine. Krefeld also lost both their games, after Munich – who currently lead the league unbeaten – beat them 5-2 in Krefeld.

Czech Republic

PSG Zlín remain without a point in the Czech Extraliga, following losses at home to Bílí Tygři Liberec (2-5) and away to HC Vítkovice Steel. Vítkovice themselves sit in second after that win, and an away victory over Oceláři Třinec, who in turn bounced back from that loss by blanking the White Tigers 3-0 in Liberec. HC Pardubice kept themselves in the top four despite a round-four loss to Moutfield Hradec Králové (3-2), by beating Olomouc 3-1 when they returned to home ice. Meanwhile Sparta Prague stay mid-table, as a loss away to Energie Karlovy Vary (4-1) was overcome with a well-needed 5-2 road win against local rivals Slavia Prague.

Finland

IFK Helsinki continue to lead the way in the SM-Liiga, despite an overtime loss to the Espoo Blues earlier last week (3-2). They got back to winning ways with a regulation win of the same score the following day though in Pori against Ässät. SaiPa Lappeenranta stay just a point behind them following wins away to Vaasan Sport (5-2) and home to JYP Jyväskylä (5-3). Lukko Rauma got a win on the board with a 3-2 win over TPS Turku, who themselves had already beaten KalPa Kuopio 2-1 in their previous game. Kärpät Oulu condemned Espoo to their second loss of the weekend by a 5-4 score, while KalPa got themselves a win to stay in the top five over HPK. Tappara Tampere stay third, despite losing 3-2 at home to SaiPa, thanks to wins over Ässät (3-2) and Lahti 2-1.

Great Britain

The Nottingham Panthers go into this week's CHL game in half-decent form, overcoming their big rivals the Sheffield Steelers 2-1 at the NIC in the cup. Their weekend was put on a downer though with a loss, also in the cup, to the Coventry Blaze.

Norway

Not a good weekend for the two Norwegian CHL sides, with just one win in four games. Vålerenga Oslo suffered the most, losing 3-2 at home to Frisk Asker and 6-1 away to Sparta Sarpsborg. The Stavanger Oilers took an overtime win over Manglerud Star, but lost out after a shootout in Lillehammer 5-4.

Slovakia

HC Košice suffered their first loss of the season, going down to Nitra 5-4 on Friday night. There was some consolation for them as the loss was after regulation, so they took a bonus point. They bounced back on Sunday night, though, beating Banská Bystrica on home ice to maintain their good start, despite the ice being covered with mist for spells of the game.

Switzerland

Defending champions ZSC Lions Zurich suffered their first home loss of the season, with Biel taking a 3-2 win from the Hallenstadion. The Zurich side stay atop, thanks to a 2-0 win in rival Kloten’s rink the night before. Geneve-Servette sit in third, with wins over Fribourg-Gottéron and EV Zug behind them, with SC Bern two places further down after a win and a shootout loss in their two games last weekend. Zug are a place below, who beat Lausanne 5-0 before their loss in Geneva, and Fribourg two below them thanks to a 5-4 overtime win in Rapperswil-Jona against the Lakers. The Kloten Flyers still remain winless after two losses this weekend, and are already three points off the pace in last place.

Sweden

CHL sides occupy positions 1-5 and 7-9 in the SHL after four games, with Luleå Hockey still leading the way. A 3-1 win away to Örebro and 2-1 home victory over Brynäs Gavle see them consolidate their position at the top of the league, one point over the defending champions Skellefteå AIK. For their part, Skellefteå took two good wins at home to Linköping HC (4-1), and away to Leksands IF (2-0). Linköping, who find themselves down in seventh, got themselves back in the winning routine with a 3-0 over Örebro. Third place is currently held by Frölunda Gothenburg, who got themselves a 2-1 home-ice victory over Djurgården Stockholm – that win was much needed, following a 5-0 thrashing in Jönköping at the hands of HV71. The Jönköping side couldn’t keep their winning form going two nights later, however, going down 4-1 to Modo Ornskoldsvik. Also sitting in the top five are the Växjö Lakers, who had a tale of two shootouts – a win in Gavle but then a loss at home to Färjestad Karlstad. Finally, Färjestad find themselves in ninth after their shootout win over Växjö, but suffered a 6-2 loss at home to Modo in the previous game.