IFK Helsinki and Frölunda Gothenburg each took eight of a possible 12 points from their first four Group B games against ZSC Lions Zurich and BK Mladá Boleslav, which puts them on top of the group with Zurich right on their trail, one point back, in a heated three-team race for two Playoff positions.

Furthermore, each team has a +3 goal difference. If either of these teams can take at least four points from these two head-to-head games – this week in Helsinki and next week in Gothenberg – they will advance for sure. Less than that, and they will have to hope that Mladá Boleslav can play spoilers against Zurich.

Defence has been the key to Helsinki’s success so far, with four goals against after four games tied for the best in the CHL along with KAC Klagenfurt. Michael Garteig has played three games in goal and has a 1.00 goals-against average and 96.1 save percentage. Garteig and Niilo Halonen – who allowed just one goal in his lone CHL start – have split the workload fairly evenly in the domestic Liiga.

Offensively, their seven goals have come from seven different players and nobody has more than two points. Olli Palola is the team’s leader with nine points in nine Liiga games, with defenceman Kasper Kotkansalo contributing seven so far.

Not surprisingly, Frölunda have relied more on their dangerous offense, led in the CHL by Michael Špaček’s six points, Ryan Lasch’s five and defenceman Mattias Norlinder’s four. Lasch has lit it up in the SHL as well with 11 points in ten games, which ranks him third in the league so far. In both competitions, Matt Tomkins and Niklas Rubin have split the duties fairly evenly, with Rubin putting up better CHL numbers but Tomkins shining domestically.

As for how the teams have faired recently, Frölunda find themselves second in the SHL with 14 points, just one back of the Växjö Lakers. They have won their last three games, most recently at home to Timra IK by a 3-2 score on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Helsinki are fifth in the 15-team Liiga with 14 points in nine games. Their 6-2 win over last-place HPK Hameenliina on Saturday snapped a brief two-game losing skid.