The positions that Tappara Tampere and Eisbären Berlin find themselves in entering Friday night’s game couldn’t be more different. Last weekend, Tappara won two games on the road and Berlin lost two at home, with all games being decided in regulation time. The result is that Tappara have a perfect six points, with three of their remaining four Group Stage games on home ice, and Die Eisbären have nothing, with three of their remaining four games on the road.

Their previous head-to-head meeting at Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena was all Tappara. The home team managed to escape the first period still scoreless but Tappara exploded in the second with five goals in a span of 6:30, eventually winning 6-1. The shots on goal that game were 40-17, largely due to the differences in power plays – Tappara were 2-for-6 and Berlin 0-for-1.

Two nights later, Tappara kept the offence up in southern Switzerland, beating HC Lugano 6-3. Meanwhile, Berlin put up a better fight against Skellefteå AIK but still fell 5-3.

Tyler Morley led Tappara that game against Berlin with three points. He added two more against Lugano and with five points is currently tied for the scoring lead with Lugano’s Daniel Carr. Samuel Salonen is right behind with four. Christian Heljanko has played both games in goal for Tappara and has a goals-against average of 2.00 and a save percentage of 91.11.

So far, Die Eisbären have scored four goals and Matthew White has three of them, making him the team’s Top Scorer. He’ll have to continue scoring but they’d like some offence from other sources as well. German national team goalie Mathias Niederberger has been a man under siege through his first two games. He was mercifully pulled halfway through the Tappara game and was in goal for the whole Skelleftea game, save for an empty-net goal, giving him statistics that are best not mentioned. Tobias Ancicka played the last 30 minutes of the Tappara game, stopping 19 of 20 shots.

If Tappara are as successful at home as they were in Central Europe, they might be able to claim their spot in yet another CHL Round of 16 as early as Sunday. As for Berlin, they will definitely have to get something going on the road or their last two Group E games could be academic.