In one of the closest fought groups, Red Bull Salzburg are in the driving seat, just ahead of JYP Jyvaskyla and HV71 Jonkoping. Two wins in Game Days 3 and 4 helped Salzburg take the group lead away from JYP. Swiss side Kloten Flyers prop up the table having only managed one point from four games so far.

by Jon Rowson, with contributions from staff writers

Salzburg have so far made a name for themselves in the CHL, as the EBEL team has given as good as they have got, taking on some of the giants of European hockey and holding their own. After splitting their opening two games on the road, the action moved to the Eisarena Salzburg, where Red Bull hosted JYP and HV71 Jonkoping. The star of the show against JYP was 20-year-old Slovene goaltender Lula Gracnar. The Jesenice native, who joined Red Bull’s junior program in 2010, stopped all of the 35 shots he faced, helping his side to victory. Czech defenceman Zdenek Kutlak scored within the first five minutes, which set the tone as the Austrians dominated throughout. Matthias Trattnig, Brett Sterling and David Meckler lit the lamp on the powerplay as JYP’s penalty kill struggled all night as Salzburg came away with a 4-0 home-ice victory, which took them to the top of Group I.

A loss in Game Day 4 would have brought Salzburg back to square one, and another tough game was on the cards as Swedish powerhouse HV71 arrived in Salzburg. However, once again Gracnar put in another sterling performance, making 26 saves as Red Bull took all three points making it a perfect weekend at the Eisarena Salzburg. Thomas Raffl netted within the first five minutes, but HV71 rallied back, captain Ted Brithen getting the goal. As with the game against JYP, Salzburg’s power play decided the game. A pair of goals with the man advantage in the third period by Brian Fahey and Sterling took the game away from HV71, as Salzburg took a 3-1 victory.

Five goals in two games with the man advantage shows that Daniel Ratushny has his side’s power play down to a T. The Salzburg head coach said after the game with HV71, “The first period was pretty sleepy. The good thing was the guys put in a strong defensive game and were mentally strong. We won today with a strong defensive performance against a very strong offensive team.”

As part of their weekend on the road, both HV71 and JYP travelled to Switzerland to take on the languishing Kloten Flyers. The team from the Zurich suburbs struggled in their opening two games, dropping their opening game to HV71 3-2 before being shut out in Jyvaskyla. Desperate to get some points on the board in the CHL, they took to the Kolping Arena ice to face the side from Jonkoping. However, it turned out to be the Marcus Nilson show, as the Swedish forward opened the scoring 24 seconds in, and netted twice more to pick up his hat-trick. Kloten captain Victor Stancescu noted, “We gave up a goal on the first shift and were steamrolled in the first period and could only react instead of forcing the game. The second period went better but the penalties didn’t help our game. It’s the way we lost, that’s unacceptable."

Patrik Karlsson and Ted Brithen scored the Swedish sides other goals as Kloten were blown away. Gustaf Wesslau made 24 saves for his shutout. Speaking about his hat-trick, a modest Nilson said, “I've played so long, I can't remember, but it's been maybe two or three years. They played hard, but we were more determined to have a good start.”

A new day and a new start for Kloten on Game Day 4, as the Swiss side looked to bounce back from the manner of their defeat against HV71, and pick up their first victory of the CHL against JYP. The Flyers got off to a flyer, as goals from Micki DuPont and flashy forward Vincent Praplan gave the home side a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes. However, JYP would slowly but surely claw their way back into the game, and Mikko Luoma’s marker in the third period tied the game after Antti Jaatinen netted in the second period. Former NHL goaltender Martin Gerber stood on his head, making 50 saves in all, but the Swiss veteran could do nothing to deny Aleksi Salonen’s overtime winner as JYP completed the comeback.

A point was at least a step in the positive direction for the Flyers, but that was no consolation for Marcel Jenni, who said, “We dominated the first period, we skated a lot, played the puck a lot, all those things that we wanted to do for 60 minutes. Afterwards we just watched the opponent, let them take over the game. It’s not a big secret that if you stop playing, skating, that can’t go well."

With only two games left in the group stage, all is to play for in Group I, as Salzburg, JYP and HV71 could all end up being group winners. Red Bull Salzburg will play the Kloten Flyers in a home-and-home series, whilst JYP and HV71 will be fighting for Nordic pride as they face each other with both teams hosting one of the games. As Red Bull coach Daniel Ratushny commented after Game Day 4, “We want to finish first place in the group and will prepare accordingly for Kloten,” and with the form his side are in, it would take a brave person to bet against Salzburg.

Group I standings

Schedule and results