Karpat and Sparta all even

Whichever team wins Tuesday's game in Oulu will go to the Round of 16, and that's because Sparta Prague and Karpat Oulu played to a 1-1 tie.

“The result was even and I think the whole game was even,” said Karpat coach Kai Suikkainen. “We came here to fight and get something from this building, because it's not an easy place to play, but we had a good fighting spirit and played a good game.”

Karpat are probably happier with the outcome in Prague than Sparta – not only because Sparta were at home, but also because they held a wide edge in play. That was specially in the third period when they scored the equalizer and very nearly went ahead, but had a goal called back after video replay.

Nonetheless, the team is pleased with its effort.

Sparta assistant coach Jiri Veber said that before the first game, “We worked on our defence a lot. Although Karpat scored once, at least it wasn’t a high number. So it’s good, positive. We watched a video of their last game in the Finnish Liiga, so we knew what to expect, and they played exactly like that. Strong defensively, sometimes without any fore-checking, defending well in the neutral zone. And we were ready for that.”

When the teams met last year in the Round of 16, Sparta carried a two-goal lead into the return game, but Karpat rallied to win. However, the personnel of both teams has changed since then, as have both head coaches - Suikkainen and Jiri Kalous.

Suikkainen simply summarized, “Whoever wins the next game now will go forward.”

Read more on this series