The Rouen Dragons and KAC Klagenfurt enter Saturday night’s encounter in northern France in the thick of the race in an extremely tight Group G, both coming off wins on Thursday night. It was Rouen’s first win of the competition, 4-3 over Donbass Donetsk thanks to a late goal from David Gilbert, while Klagenfurt’s 5-1 win over Rungsted Seier Capital was their third straight, but first in regulation time.

As things now stand, Klagenfurt lead the group with seven points, followed by Rouen and Donbass both with four and Rungsted with three. A Klagenfurt win could see them start to pull away from the rest of the pack, whereas a second straight Rouen home win could tighten things up even more.

These two teams previously met in Carinthia on 3 September, which was the first day of action for Group G. They exchanged goals in the first period and that was it for regulation time, as the defence and goaltenders Sebastian Dahm and Matija Pintarič shone – particularly Pintarič, as Klagenfurt held a decisive 50-22 edge in shots. The Slovenian netminder couldn’t hold the fort forever, though, as Nicholas Petersen scored in overtime to give the home side the extra point.

Petersen, a Canadian, and Slovenian linemate Rok Tičar, are Klagenfurt’s top two scorers with four points – usually with centreman Tičar loading the gun and winger Petersen pulling the trigger. Dahm, the standout netminder for the Danish national team, is Klagenfurt’s rock as well. He’s played every minute of the team’s first three CHL games and has surrendered only four goals, giving him a 1.33 goals-against average and a 93.7 save percentage.

After only scoring one goal in each of their first two games, the Dragons netted four against Donbass. Their leading scorer is now Loïc Lampérier with three points, all assists. Anthony Guttig is the only Rouen player with two goals. Defenceman Dylan Yeo leads the CHL with 12 hits, despite Rouen playing one less game than most teams. Yeo and partner Florian Chakiachvili are among the leading ice-getters in the competition at nearly 24 minutes per game. Like Dahm, Pintarič has gone all the way so far for Rouen, with a goals-against average of 2.36 and a sparkling save percentage of 94.1.

Klagenfurt’s four-goal win in Rungsted is so far Group G’s only game to be decided by more than one goal, and there’s every reason to believe this will be another tight-checking, low-scoring affair. Rouen’s home fans were a noticeable presence against Donbass and that can be expected again in this one as their team goes after a share of the group lead.