- Bern won home match in Round of 16 last season 3-2
- Lakers look to avenge home ice defeat last week
- Swiss side currently top of group
Bern will again aim to avenge their Quarter-Final defeat against the Swedish giants with another win when the pair ice against each other once more.
The Swiss side find themselves wielding a double-edged sword as the lowest scoring Group leaders with only five goals to their name. The statistic may be irrelevant to the fans but not to Head Coach Kari Jalonen, whose team will have to work even harder if they are to remain top. Despite their meeting last year in the playoffs and again now in the Group Stage, both coaches now know that this the last time they can play each other until again at least the Quarter-Finals.
It’s extremely doubtful either coach will be thinking that far ahead, but instead learning from the first game between these two sides which ended 2-1 in Bern’s favour. Since then Växjö have beaten Salzburg and return with a forward who is only two goals short of the Swiss sides total in Austin Ortega with four. Bern on the other hand traveled to Ice Arena Wales, where Växjö suffered their only Group Stage loss of last year, leaving with an OT victory over the Cardiff Devils - two points, but they would no doubt have targeted three.
The Lakers will be itching to avenge the home ice less last week, while Bern did not lose at home in the CHL last season except for their Round of 16 tie with Munich.