Aalborg Pirates’ Nikolaj Carstensen tied it up in the second and Jeppe Jul Korsgaard put on the finishing touch as the Danish side stunned hosts Sparta Prague in their first Champions Hockey League fixture.

This is just Aalborg’s second win in the CHL, and first against a Czech side. While they were outplayed for stretches of the game – especially after Sparta secured their second goal – the Danes were able to keep pace with the Czechs and their persistence reaped some rewards.

Three different players scored for the visitors including Oliver Anker. The 25-year-old Aalborg-native returned to the club this season after spending some time away from his hometown team. His tally leveled the game at 25:19 and kickstarted a bounce back.

Heading into their match-up with Jukurit, the Danes will need to continue getting contributions from up and down the line-up, including their top scorer from last season Patrick Bjorkstrand.  

Newcomers Jukurit Mikkeli had a less positive premier in the CHL, falling to Luleå Hockey by a 5-2 final.

Already down two near the midway mark of the contest, Niklas Peltomäki would halve the deficit. But a tenacious squad in Luleå immediately extended the lead by two again, and then padded it a minute later when Einar Emanuelsson scored the club’s fourth of the night.

The hosts continued to chase the lead the rest of the match as the Swedes controlled the pace from start to finish. Fortunately, the Finnish side was able to find twine one more time – a 5-on-3 powerplay goal – but it was too little too late.

Going up against Aalborg, Jukurit will have to get their legs going early. They’ll also need to maintain their excellent penalty kill that went 6-for-6 against a talented Luleå squad.