- Kärpät lead the group
- Bern won in Finland on Game Day 2 in overtime
- Three points separate the teams
Kari Jalonen's SC Bern side welcome group leaders Kärpät Oulu to the PostFinance Arena knowing that they can't afford to slip much further behind in Group E.
Game Day 3's home shootout loss to Skellefteå means the Swiss team are three behind tonight's opponents, despite winning in Oulu last weekend. Bern aren't having much toruble scoring, averaging three a game - but with 10 goals against in only three games it's where the improvements will be needed the most. Mark Arcobello leads the team in points with four so far, while Calle Andersson is the team's top goal-scorer with two. Bern do however have their final two games of the group against Grenoble -but the French side have caused shocks, meaning the Swiss can't leave themselves with too much to do.
Kärpät have the small matter of Jeese Puljujärvi leading their stats tables with two goals and a pair of assists in his opening three games. They top the group thanks to Thursday's win in Grenoble, but it is worth noting that six of their seven points so far came against the French champions. With their final two games against Skellefteå, Mikko Manner's men will want to give themselves some margin for error in Game Days 5 and 6 if they can.