Linkoping, Davos and Mannheim were all already in the CHL Round of 32 but needed points to finish 1st in their groups and they did so. In the process, Linkoping's win in Bern denied the Swiss club from advancing and put IFK Helsinki through. In the two games played in Great Britain, Braehead scored an upset win over Ingolstadt and Sheffield gave Frolunda a good battle.
Sheffield Steelers 1–4 Frolunda Gothenburg
HIGHLIGHTS
The Steelers tried to make it a happy ending for both British clubs in this year's CHL, and they hung in against one of Europe's elite clubs for two periods, tied 1–1 into the final period. However, Artturi Lehkonen scored the game-winning goal with 15 minutes to play, and two more goals made it a 4–1 final. Lehkonen also had 2 assists to make it a 3-point night for the Finn, while Levi Nelson scored the lone Sheffield goal on the power play late in the second period. With the 3 points, Frolunda become the fourth team to secure all 12 available points from the group stage.
“I am really pleased. It was an exhausting game here in Sheffield and I'm proud of my team that we could win the game,” said Frolunda coach Roger Ronnberg, impressed with both his own team and his opponents. “We were expecting a tighter game and knew they played well against JYP. We had some injuries so as we have a wide roster it was a chance for me to see some kids play and I think they did well. I really liked the atmosphere here, it was surprisingly to feel it - unbelievable.”
“I liked our performance,” said Sheffield coach Paul Thompson. “In the third period they got a bounce or two with a couple of goals, but we didn't take our big opportunity on the 5-on-3. It's little things at this level, and teams will take advantage of that. We're disappointed to lose at 1-1 going into the last period, but you can't take penalties in the last 20 like we did. Winning is a fine line, and we didn't score enough goals at equal strength in this tournament. It's been a great experience and we have to learn from it. It's a great tournament and we want to be back in this.”
Braehead Clan 6–4 ERC Ingolstadt
HIGHLIGHTS
Ingolstadt had a chance to claim 1st place in Group O with a win, but were denied by the CHL's Scottish entry – the Braehead Clan – who bowed out of the competition in fine fashion. The teams went back and forth all night in front of a packed house in suburban Glasgow, with Ingolstadt scoring two quick goals early in the third to take a 4–3 lead. However, Matt Keith's power-play equaliser with 2:24 to play set up a crazy finish. Needing the regulation win to take the group title, Ingolstadt pulled their goalie late and Alex Leavitt scored the game-winner into the empty net with 50 seconds to go, turning Braehead Arena into a madhouse. Another empty-netter secured it.
“We were in a position to win the game tonight, took a dumb penalty to let them back into the game,” said a frustrated Ingolstadt coach Manny Viveros. “At times we played well, others not. Perhaps our intensity level wasn't there as much as it should have been because we were already through, but we had chances to win. The main thing is that we're through to the next round, and now we look ahead to Friday with the start of our own domestic season.”
“Yeah it felt good (to win), anytime you get a win it does especially here,” said an understandably happy Clan coach Ryan Finnerty. “We've been getting better each week in the Champions Hockey League and it feels great. I think the fact that we feel we've been getting better and more competitive is a real positive. We've learnt a lot in this tournament, and tonight I thought we controlled a large portion of the game. We did well to get it back to 4-4, which showed a lot of character. We want to get rid of the mentality of just being happy to be in this competition, and should be going out to beat every team we play here at home, especially.”
Adler Mannheim 2–1 Vitkovice Ostrava (SO)
HIGHLIGHTS
Having just won on home ice last night to secure a spot in the Round of 32, Vitkovice travelled to Mannheim and turned in a gutsy performance trying to earn 1st place in Group I. Philip Riefers opened the scoring for Mannheim in the 15th minute, but Petr Kolouch tied it for Vitkovice early in the third period. The third period and then overtime finished without further scoring, so a shootout was needed to determine the group winner. Mannheim scored on three of their four attempts to win, and thrill a CHL-record crowd of 9,744.
HC Davos 5–3 Dynamo Pardubice
HIGHLIGHTS
Despite having already been eliminated from advancing, Pardubice came up with a spirited effort in Davos, battling back from a 3–0 deficit to pull even in the last two minutes. However, their inability to put points away again haunted them, as Dario Simion scored with 28 seconds remaining to claim the game and the group for Davos. Simion also had 2 assists in the game and Mauro Joerg had 2. An empty-netter made it a 5–3 final.
SC Bern 1–7 Linkoping HC
HIGHLIGHTS
Bern could have advanced with 3 points and for a good part of the game that didn't look out of the question. In fact, Cory Conacher opened the scoring for Bern at the 3:57 mark, much to the delight of the home fans, but it was all Linkoping after that – two goals in the first period, one in the second, and then a four-goal outburst in a seven-minute span in the third to make this one a rout. Defenceman Chad Billins and forward Jacob Lilja led the offence with 2 goals and 1 assist each, while Gustav Forsling had 3 assists. As a result of the Bern defeat, IFK Helsinki advance to the playoffs.
Despite scoring his team's goal, Conacher was obviously not pleased with the way the game tourned out for Bern. “Obviously we’re very disappointed with the result. We started good into the game and had an early goal. We need to learn from that and look forward to the start of our season next week.”
Said Linkoping coach Dan Tangnes, “At first we had some doubts coming into the game because we had quite a lot of players out with injuries. After a while those doubts went away and the result at the end is of course quite pleasing.”