With four games in the books, Oceláři Třinec currently occupy second place in Group D, with six points coming from their last two games.
But things got off to a rocky start for the Czech side. Defensively the side held up their end, allowing just three goals in their first two games, but they struggled to muster a single goal in those opening games that resulted in narrow losses to the Lahti Pelicans and Yunost Minsk.
After 158 minutes of hockey, Třinec finally scored their opening goal through Tomáš Kundrátek as the team were down by three in their second meeting with Lahti, and since then the team haven’t stopped scoring.
They came from three down to win 5-3 against Lahti on Game Day 3, and then in their fourth game, the put seven past Minsk in a 7-2 score line.
“We wanted to get back into playing for the playoffs spots, and we made that.”Třinec forward Tomáš Marcinko said following this weekends action
The 31-year-old forward registered five points in the teams two wins, now leading his team.
“Our goal was to win against the Finnish team and we succeeded. Then we knew we had to beat Minsk as well, get the 3 points, and we managed that too, so we’re satisfied with that.”
“Our game plan against Minsk was to contine playing the way we played the last two period against Lahti, where I think we were brilliant. I think we managed that, except for the two goals we allowed today."
“They were kind of unnecessary but it’s at least something we can learn from. We’re glad we took some of the chances, but we had more of them.”
After no goals in 158 minutes for Třinec, the team have scored 12 times in the last five periods of hockey.
“We worked hard on that in practice. And if you do so, it usually turns around at some point. We knew it was going to chance if we continued working hard, but still, it was just two games, we still have two more.”
The six points earned from these last two games now keep the teams hopes of progressing to the Playoffs very much alive, and with a break from CHL action for a couple of weeks, they’ll hope to have a good start to the domestic season and ride that momentum into their final Group Stage games.
“We’re playing Lausanne twice and they’re top of the group right know, so what better finish you could ask for. We will have some video before the games to learn more about them, but right now the Extraliga starts and we have to focus on that first.”