The Lahti Pelicans will make the trip to Italy to face HC Bolzano as both teams find themselves in a different situation heading into Game Day 5 of the Champions Hockey League - Lahti need points to move further up the Regular Season Standings and closer to Playoff qualification, whereas for Bolzano this is a must-win game if they are to even think about anything like that.

The Italians have struggled so far this season and, together with HC Košice, they're the only team in 2023/24 to have not scored a single point. What's been the issue? 

Well, where to start. With a mere four goals for they sport the worst-ranked offence and with a whopping 21 goals having hit the back of their net, they also sport one of the worst defences. 

Coming up against Europe's very best ice hockey teams has properly challenged their play and especially Niklas Svedberg in net who's had to pull off a whopping 119 saves, the second-most league-wide. 

Rather worryingly, one stat does jump out as a bit stunning - Bolzano's powerplay unit which has scored on under 5% of its chances. 

On the flip side, Lahti of been a solid mid-tier player across Game Days 1-4. The Finns enter their fifth game of the season with a 2-2 record and with a bevvy of positive numbers to their name - one shutout, 22%+ powerplay efficiency and an 80%+ PK efficiency to name a few.

They've scored 14, eight of those landing in the net of the Rouen Dragons on Game Day 2, and let in 11 for a mediocre +3 goal difference. Ryan Lasch leads the team in scoring with 3G+4A in just three games - if you know Lasch, these stats hardly surprise you, while three other teammates have scored 1P/game or more and a handful are just below that average. 

But all these numbers are slightly offset by the crazy 11-goal game in France, diving deep reveals that the Pelicans are only just about in the Playoffs and if they want to make that spot permanent, they need to step it up another notch and that starts right now against Bolzano.