First leg of Semi-Finals
JYP unbeaten at home in this year's CHL; defeated Brno in QFs
Oceláři with 3 straight road victories in Scandinavia
JYP go into this game having won five straight home games in Liiga play and have not lost at home in CHL play either - with four wins and a tie. Overall, JYP sit fourth in the Liiga with 70 points in 39 games, while Třinec are fourth in the Extraliga with 64 points in 37 games. Antti Suomela and Jani Tuppurainen have been JYP’s most productive forwards so far this season, with 35 and 34 points, respectively in Liiga play, while Juuso Puustinen leads the team with 18 goals and has 33 points. Puustinen also leads the team with four goals in the CHL, while Tuppurainen is the team’s LGT Top Scorer with eight points.
Třinec, meanwhile, have won four straight Extraliga games away from home and their last two away games in the CHL. Their big story has been Šimon Hrubec, especially in the CHL, where his numbers are simply eye-popping. In nine CHL games he has given up just nine goals and made 246 saves for a goals-against average of 0.99 and a save percentage of 96.47. Jiří Polanský is the team’s LGT Top Scorer with 10 CHL points.
"Getting to the Semi-Final is already a big success because we've never made it this far before, but we want to make it to the Final," said Martin Růžička. "I haven’t had much time to focus on our opponents, but our coaches have prepared some video and we'll watch them and prepare for the game as always."