Heading into last week’s game in Brno, hometown Kometa had already qualified for the Round of 16 and needed three points to secure 1st place in Group B. The Malmö Redhawks, meanwhile, needed one point to secure their place in the next round and to keep their chances of winning the group alive. Kometa led 4-1 early in the third period but Malmö came back to force overtime, where Kometa won. Therefore, the single point was enough to put the Redhawks through and the two points left Kometa one shy of top spot. Heading into this game in Malmö, both teams are secure in the knowledge that they will advance, but first place is still up in the air. If Malmö win in regulation time, it’s there’s, otherwise it will go to Kometa.

“We’ll take that one point and now we’re in the next round, which is what we wanted. Now we have another game against them at home, so we’ll see,” said Malmö’s Tuukka Mäntylä.

Since Tuesday’s game in Brno, the Redhawks have won once and lost once, which is consistent with their season so far - they sit sixth in the SHL. Kometa, meanwhile, are on fire. Counting Tuesday’s home win and six Extraliga games, Kometa have now won seven in a row. They are top spot in the Czech league.