Rögle have picked up where they left off last season, entering the 2022/23 Quarter-Finals after overturning a two-goal aggregate deficit by beating Red Bull Salzburg 5-1 in their Round of 16 Return Game. Their 3-1 loss from the First Game was their very first loss of the season - up to this point, the Swedes have won six games in regulation, one in OT and lost one. 

They've scored 32 goals, good for 4 goals/game, and feature a Goal Difference of +16 which ranks them third CHL-wide behind fellow Quarter-Finalists EV Zug (+26) and Frölunda Gothenburg (+23). 

When comparing their other stats among their peers, Rögle are in the better half, but rarely table-toppers, however, there is one area of play where Rögle have excelled, and it's something that proved key on their quest for the European Trophy last season - powerplays.

With a 31.43% powerplay conversion rate, the 2022 CHL Champions are only outranked by Skellefteå AIK when compared with the remaining teams in the competition. In practice, that means that powerplays often decide games in Rögle's favour - taking their most recent CHL game as an example, 3/5 goals they scored came with an extra attacker on the ice. 

Powerplays also played a role the last time Rögle and Tappara locked horns, with Daniel Zaar scoring the game-winner while a Tappara player was in the sin bin. 

This season, Rögle have spread out their goals among all of their forwards, with over half of them having scored at least once! Riley Sheen (5G, 1A) leads his team with five to his name, while familiar names Marco Kasper (4G, 5A), Adam Tambellini (4G, 5A) and Ludvig Larsson (4G, 1A) sit at four each (all three also scored in Rögle's last game against Salzburg).

Kasper and Tambellini's nine combined points make them their team's most productive players and they'll definitely be counted upon against Tappara!

After breaking their Round of 16 curse last season, Tappara Tampere are back in the Quarter-Finals for a second year in a row. Their composed, defense-focused style of play that emphasises building up play rather than turn-overs has paid off, with the Finns only letting 11 goals in over eight games, a number that makes them second-best in the CHL this season. 

They've only scored 23 times, which is nine times less than Rögle, but their goals have been backed up by table-topping goaltending from Christian Heljanko who played in both of Tappara's Round of 16 games.

With seven CHL games to his name this season, the 25-year-old Finnish International has an outstanding 95.60 Save %, having let only 1.12 goals into his net per game. He's also recorded three shutouts, his last being Tappara's 1-0 Round of 16 First Game win over HC Davos.

His composed and dependable performances give the team the confidence they need to play from the back, which has resulted in more than half of Tappara's defenders scoring at least one goal or assist. When looking at their forwards, the stats look even better - all but one of them have one or more points!

But let's not forget the elephant in the room, the 2022 CHL Final, which Tappara lost. What went wrong on the big night? 

The game looked pretty even on paper. Both teams racked up about the same number of shots on goal, faceoffs were also pretty much even, the Expected Goal story also doesn't show any signs of one team taking a huge advantage. So what was the differentiating factor? You guessed it, powerplays. Each team had one, but only the Swedes utilised it fully.

If the Finns can up their penalty kill this time around, it could be them celebrating at the end of the two-game series - you don't want to miss this Quarter-Finals series!