Reaction: Away wins for HV71 and Lugano complete Saturday's action

Both HC Lugano and HV71 were victorious on the road on Saturday night to put themselves in good positions in their respective groups.

Tappara Tampera 1–3 HC Lugano

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HC Lugano got immediate revenge for their loss at home to Tappara a few days ago by winning in Finland. Alessio Bertaggia and Damien Brunner put the visitors in control with less than four minutes played, and despite Tappara's Valtteri Kemilainen pulling one back inside hte opening 10 minutes they were unable to tie the game. Lugano's Julien Vauclair added a cushion for Lugano with 34:35 played, and that's how the game ended with a 3-1 win for the Swiss side.

"Both teams have been perfect hosts," Lugano coach Doug Shedden wryly grinned after his team has won in both Mannheim and Tampere. As for Tappara, he said, "They played very well in our rink (on Tuesday), you gotta give 'em credit. Our team bounced back and played a pretty good game tonight and Elvis was great in goal – that always makes things easier when you've got a good goalie. We got a good start but, you know, you've gotta be careful because those 2-0 leads are the worst in hockey, I don't know why. But we played a really good game after that, limited their chances, and I'm happy with the win."

Sheffield Steelers 2–5 HV71 Jonkiping

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Sheffield were in this game for two periods before running into penalty trouble again as they lost out to the SHL's HV71. Despite going two goals behind in the opening session, Rob Down brought the Steelers back to within one before the first 20 minutes were up. A scoreless second period meant the Steelers entered the final period still jsut a goal behind, but poor discipline cost them as goals from Teemu Laine, Chris Abbott (his second of the night) and Mattias Tedenby put the Swedes 5-1 up before a Rob Dowd consolation for the Steelers ended the scoring at 5-2.

"We were right in the game until the third period, and then we did the same thing as we've done in the last two. It's frustrating. I can accept at this level that we are half a second behind these great teams and if we take penalties for battling then I can accept that. But we got frustrated again - we can't be handling penalties all night like that," said a frustrated Paul Thompson after the game. "It's a bitter pill, we were there in the game and it was hard work. I'll talk to the players, and let them know we've taken away an opportunity to progress. We have to wake up, and wake up quickly."

"It was a tough game with a lot of penalties, playing 5-on-5 I thought the Steelers defended very well and they made it tough for us to get pucks on the net" commented HV71 Head Coach Johan Lindbom. "I think they're a good team with a big heart, they work hard every shift and I think they'll have a good season."