The Rapperswil-Jona Lakers will be looking for all-important points to qualify for the 2023/24 Champions Hockey League Playoffs against the strongest team of the Regular Season, first-placed Växjö Lakers. 

Unbeaten Växjö head into this tie as the only team to have won on all five previous Game Days, having scored a league-high 26 goals for while only letting in a very respectable 11. No surprise that their +15 GD is the best we've seen so far this season. 

Eight of their players head into the final round of the Regular Season with 1P/game or more, with Noah Östlund and Joachim Blichfeld leading the team with four goals each. A staple of the Lakers' play has been their efficiency on the powerplay, where the Swedes have been scoring at a rate of nearly 30%!

Compare that with Rapperswil's league-low PK rate of sub-70% and we could have an issue... Despite that, the Swiss team aren't no slouch in the stats department with a Top 8 goals for finish thanks to their 19 goals. In goals against, however, it isn't as positive a story, with Rapperswil having let in nearly four goals/game.

Rapperswil haven't had much stability in back due to the fact that both their goalies, who have played 3 and 2 games respectively, have a sub-90% Save %. Up front, six players are on the magical point-per-game average, with Jordan Schroeder leading the team with three goals in four games played. 

The main question is: Do Rapperswil have it in them to topple the Regular Season leaders and secure themselves a place in the Playoffs?

And though we can't say for sure, we think they could pull it off since last time round in the CHL they beat reigning CHL Champions Tappara Tampere 4-2, with Tyler Moy shining with 1G+2A.

They didn't outshoot the European Club Champions, nor did they really outplay them, yet they came away with a huge +3 points thanks to keeping their head int the game and near-perfect discipline and that's exactly what they'll need when they line up against reigning SHL champions Växjö in Sweden on Tuesday!