A pair of road teams came up with big wins to avoid their groups' basements as Farjestad won in Pardubice and Kosice won in Klagenfurt. Meanwhile, a JYP win in Sheffield mean that they qualify to the next round, along with Frolunda.
Sheffield Steelers 2–4 JYP Jyvaskyla
HIGHLIGHTS
In what was by far their best effort of this CHL season so far, Sheffield dominated the first period on home ice against JYP, out-shooting them 15–4 and scoring the first goal. They were tied 2–2 after two periods thanks to power-play goals by Robert Dowd and Mathieu Roy. They couldn't last forever, however, as Joose Antonen gave the visitors from Finland the lead in the 48th minute and a late empty-netter made it a 4–2 final. With that result, both JYP and Frolunda clinch Group N's two playoff spots.
“We lost the game, I'm not happy,” said Sheffield coach Paul Thompson, who thought his team deserved a better fate. “I'm not disappointed, but I'm just not happy with the result. I thought in the first we really jumped all over JYP and came away with a deserved lead. Then they came back, but we equalised, and I felt it was always going to be a one-goal game, really. To lose a goal when the puck goes over the glass, when a player didn't deliberately mean to do it, is a rule I hate, and they end up getting the go-ahead goal.”
“That was a big win for us,” JYP coach Marko Virtanen said after his team clinched a spot among the final 32. “I have to say that the hardest place in sports is when you're expected to win, and that was the situation for us. After the opening period, I said that we had to play a simple game - skate, make easy passes, do the normal things well. It was tough when the Steelers kept pressing, they grew all the time and played better as it went on.”
KAC Klagenfurt 2–3 HC Kosice
HIGHLIGHTS
In a big game between two teams still searching for their first points, HC Kosice broke the deadlock late when Jakub Suja scored on a 5-on-3 advantage with 2:31 remaining in regulation time. The win means that Kosice are three points up on Klagenfurt, but Klagenfurt have a game in hand – a road game in Munich next weekend. The same two teams also play each other again in Kosice, in what promises to be a huge game.
“All of us coaches teach defence, but you have to put the puck in the net. We had trouble doing that, it's one of our problems at the moment. I thought we deserved a better fate today,” Klagenfurt coach Doug Mason.
HC Pardubice 2–3 Farjestad Karlstad
HIGHLIGHTS
With HC Davos already clinched, Farjestad now have a five-point lead on Pardubice in the battle for Group E's other playoff spot after winning this game, thanks to a goal by Johan Ryno with 2:55 to play. The score was 1–0 Farjestad entering the third period, but Pardubice opened it up in the third in a desperate attempt to grab some points, and the teams traded goals in an exciting final 20 minutes, culminating in the late game-winner. Ryno and Mikael Johansson had 1 goal and 1 assist each for Farjestad, while Petr Sykora assisted on both Pardubice goals. Pardubice will now have to win in Davos and Karlstad next weekend to have a chance at advancing.