The Växjö Lakers and Tappara Tampere will meet for the first time in the Champions Hockey League Round of 16 when the Swedish side hosts the Finns at Vida Arena to kick off the next leg of the pan-European competition.

For six-time CHL qualifiers Växjö, it will be their fourth time advancing past the Group Stage as they hope to repeat their success of the 2017/18 campaign where they reached the Final against Finnish side JYP Jyväskylä. Tappara have participated in every CHL season to date and have made it past the Group Stage each time but, despite their consistent success in the early going, the Finns have never managed to go beyond the Round of 16.

In order to do this, Tappara will have to keep up their frenzied scoring pace. So far this season, they’ve tallied 25 tucks, 11 more than their Swedish opponents, and have also converted on 33.33% of their powerplay opportunities compared to Växjö’s 22.73%. For the Swedes, they’ll have to rely on their excellent penalty kill which has been flawless at 100%.

Playing in the hosts' favour is the fact that they have home-ice advantage to begin this Round of 16 match-up, with all 3 of their victories coming in front of their home crowd. Tappara, though, have fared pretty well on the road, winning two of three contests and potting 13 goals, one more than their total on home ice.

Regarding goals, it’s important to note that going forward the series will be decided using an aggregate scoring system. Meaning that points will no longer be awarded, instead, the combined score which is based solely on goals will determine who advances to the next round.

Will Tappara be able to break their CHL Round of 16 curse, or will Växjö find themselves on their way back to the Final?

Watch all the action when puck drops on 16 November at 19:00 CEST.