Tappara Tampere, the two-time defending champions of the Finnish Liiga, haven’t gotten off to the best of starts domestically, but they’ve been perfect in the Champions Hockey League. They currently sit seventh in the Liiga standings but they’re the only team to have taken the maximum 15 points from their five CHL games.

Although this last game in Banská Bystrica isn’t crucial to Tappara’s positioning in the group, they are still taking it seriously, with forward Jan-Mikael Järvinen stating: “Even though we have already won the group, we are definitely going to Slovakia to win the last game. Every point will be important when deciding home-ice advantage in the playoff rounds. And we want to secure that for as long as we can.”

As for HC05 Banská Bystrica, they have no chance of advancing, but after a poor start to the CHL managed to get a win in their last home game and put up a good fight in Tampere last week, losing only 3-0. They’re also climbing in the Slovak Liga standings with four wins in their last five and currently sit second.

“We'll definitely be better at home,” said Banská Bystrica goalie Teemu Lassila, who played last season for Tappara. “We just have to trust in our game and the goals will come. (The game in Tampere) was a good experience for the young guys on the team to play against such a strong team and their goalie was strong, but next week at home will be a new game.”