After being on the losing end of two closely contested matches – both 2-1 outcomes – the Rouen Dragons will be hoping for better results on home ice when they host Ukranian side HC Donbass Donetsk for their second tilt of the tournament.

In their previous meeting, Rouen played a bit reckless and their parade to the penalty box ultimately led to their undoing. Seven powerplays later, Donbass were able to break through and claim the game on an Andrei Biriukov rebound goal. The good news for the French side was that their penalty kill, up to a point, looked poised and did well defending in their own zone. Matija Pintarič made the saves he needed to and the match, if not for the late tally, looked destined to go to OT.

To find success going forward, the French champions will need to stay out of the box, play a more disciplined north/south style, and start finding the back of the net. With only two goals in as many games, it’ll take a bigger offensive output for them to enter the win column.

For Donbass, their main challenge is improving their special teams. Till now, the Ukrainian side have gone up a man 17 times but have only converted twice. Despite seeing seven opportunities on Sunday, Donbass were only able to muster a single tally. Given the chance, they’ll need to find a way to utilise the man-advantage and that starts with getting better results from top players like, Viktor Zakharov and Andrei Sigarev.

On the other side of the puck, the Ukrainians were able to keep themselves a little more composed but did surrender four powerplay opportunities to the opposition. Keeping penalties to a minimum and converting their chances should be the central focus moving forward.