On Thursday, Vålerenga Oslo and the Vienna Capitals met for the second time in this Champions Hockey League season, and for the second time Vienna won 2-1. Below you can read how the game's two goalies, Matt Zaba and Steffen Søberg, saw it.

by Katarina Nordam

OSLO – The Vienna Capitals lead Group B with nine points while Vålerenga Oslo is still pointless. However, if the outcomes of two close games between the two teams were just a little different, the group standings could look very different. On Game Day 2 in the Austrian capital, the visiting Vålerenga club battled hard against the Caps but Peter MacArthur's power-play goal with seven minutes on the clock gave the home side a 2–1 victory.

On Thursday in the Norwegian capital, the score was once again 1–1 in the third period. This time it was Kevin Puschnik with the winning goal with 11:18 to play.

In both games, the two goalies shone. Steffen Søberg played both games for Vålerenga, stopping 53 of 57 total shots. David Kickert played the first game for Vienna while Matt Zaba played the second. Coincidentally, both stopped 23 of 24 Oslo shots in their games.

After the game in Oslo, Zaba and Søberg were the main focus of attention, and had plenty to say about the game.

Matt Zaba, Vienna – It was a tough game and this was an important victory for us. We knew the game would be tough, and that Vålerenga would be desperate for a victory. They played good and they could easily have won the game as well. Søberg was awesome in goal today as well.

Steffen Søberg, Oslo – Are you sure Zaba was not talking about the last game? Those were two goals that I wouldn’t let in on a good day. That bothers me, especially when the team is playing well.

One of the big things about the game was the power plays, where Vålerenga went 0-for-7 and Vienna 0-for-3.

Zaba – Both teams had many good chances. In the last minutes of the game, Vålerenga came on to us six-on-four, and they also had chances five-against-three. The guys put up some good defence and good penalty killing for us today.

Søberg – We got several chances and played a lot in the attacking zone on the power play, but the puck moved too slowly. Vienna were just waiting for the shots, and held us easily to the outside. That makes it hard to win.

In the group standings, Vienna now has 9 points and Vålerenga 0.

Zaba – We're now in a good position, but this is a tough group and there are still several games to play. We've got Färjestad next, and we’re aware of their reputation as a really strong team. They will also take revenge for the last game. It’s going to be very exciting to play against our old coach again. Tommy Samuelsson was the one that brought me to the Vienna Capitals, and I have a lot of respect for him. I wish him well, as long as it is not at our expense.

Søberg – It will be even tougher on Saturday against Zurich, but we just have to continue to play like we have done up until now.