Through four gamedays, EV Zug and Kometa Brno lead Group D with 10 and 9 points, respectively. The winner of this home-and-away affair over the last two gamedays, starting this week in Brno, will determine the group winner. The winner of this game will secure its place in the Round of 16 and, in fact, both teams might advance this week, depending on the outcome of Eisbären Berlin vs Neman Grodno.

These two teams met in the Round of 16 last season, with Brno winning both legs and advancing on a 9-5 aggregate score.

Kometa are the two-time reigning Czech champions but have started this season somewhat inconsistently, with five wins in eight games. They re-enter CHL play following a 5-3 home-ice win over Karlovy Vary on Sunday. Likewise, Zug have also won five of their first eight National League games and sit third overall following back-to-back wins over Geneve-Servette and Rapperswil-Jona on the weekend.  

Petr Holík is Kometa’s leading scorer domestically with nine points in eight games, while Luboš Horký is the LGT Top Scorer in the CHL with seven points in four games. For Zug, David McIntyre has nine points in five National League games but is currently out of the lineup with an injury. In the CHL, Lino Martschini leads with six points in four games.