Skellefteå AIK and SC Bern met exactly a week ago in their opening matches of the 2019/20 CHL season and as predicted, the game was very close and even on both sides. Both teams had over 30 shots on goal each and after 2 goals into the net each, the game went to overtime. Overtime didn’t declare a winner, only the sole shootout goal from Joakim Lindström gifted Skellefteå the extra point and win. From there on Skelleftea dropped points against underdogs Grenoble in their 1-2 home defeat, whilst Bern enjoyed another overtime game away against Kärpät Oulu and was this time able to win thanks to Mark Arcobello’s OT goal.

Skellefteå’s surprise loss to Grenoble mixed up the cards in Group E and after the first two games, they sit last in their group standings. A win against Bern away is now a near necessity for the club, but the same can also be said of Bern, as everybody wants to gain some headroom. A key factor to take into consideration is Bern’s home advantage, as no team in the league gathers as many fans as Bern. Last year they set the CHL record for number of spectators, when 13,715 fans in the PostFinance-Arena witnessed Bern defeat group stage opponents Red Bull Salzburg in a game that ended in a shootout.