Adler Mannheim looked in control with a 2-0 lead on home ice, but HC Lugano came back to win 3-2 in their CHL debut. Read more in Gamecentre.

In front of their usual large and enthusiastic home crowd, Adler Mannheim had a strong first period against HC Lugano – outshooting them 10-6 and scoring two goals in the first five minutes. Undaunted, however, Lugano came back. 

The second period seemed to be a completely different game as Lugano dominated, firing 15 shots and Dennis Endras and scoring twice to tie the game. In the third, Damien Brunner scored Lugano's second power-play goal of the game, which held up as the game-winner. Mannheim pressed furiously to tie but couldn't beat Elvis Merzlikins again – the Latvian keeper stopped 32 of 34 shots on the night. 

Lugano coach Doug Shedden summed up: “Obviously Mannheim were better in the first period – they got out to a 2-0 lead. We came back and were better in the second period, obviously, and I think the other result was that our specialty teams were pretty good – our power play and penalty killing did a great job, especially on the 5-on-3, and Elvis ... your best penalty-killer is your goalie, and our power play came up with two pretty big goals.”