Heading into Game Day 5, Sparta Prague trail Pinguins Bremerhaven by two points, making Tuesday night’s encounter in the Czech capital a possible swing game if the home team wins. Whereas if the Pinguins triumph, they could possibly secure a spot in the Round of 16 if they get help. It’s a tight three-team race in Group A, with the Swedish champion Växjö Lakers tied with Sparta. Technically, TPS Turku are still alive but, six points back of Sparta and Växjö, they are on life support, needing to win twice in regulation and Sparta to lose twice in regulation.

Defenceman Tomáš Pavelka is Sparta’s top scorer in the CHL with four points but he’s currently injured. Swedish sniper Erik Thorell has been on fire domestically with 12 points in nine games. Alexander Salák has been their main man between the pipes in both competitions.

Bremerhaven have won three of four games despite scoring only seven total goals, and no player has more than three points. Similarly, no player has more than five through eight DEL games. Brandon Maxwell and Maximilian Franzreb split the duties in the early part of the CHL but it’s been almost all Maxwell in the DEL, playing seven of eight contests. Bremerhaven’s roster includes former Sparta players Vladimír Eminger and Dominik Uher, who were both with the team for the 2016/17 CHL Final.

Sparta started their Extraliga season with six of their first seven games at home and they took advantage, winning six of seven but have now lost twice in a row, most recently a 3-2 shootout loss to Mountfield HK on Sunday. They currently sit fifth in the standings with 17 points but have at least one game in hand on all four teams ahead of them. Meanwhile, Bremerhaven’s strong performance early in the CHL didn’t translate into a great start in the DEL – they currently sit tenth in the 15-team circuit after eight games. They head into Tuesday’s game losers in three of their last four games, most recently 4-2 at ERC Ingolstadt on Sunday.