Jeppe Jul Korsgaard’s goal on a deflection with 8:04 remaining in regulation time broke a 2-2 tie, helping the Aalborg Pirates get off on the right foot with a 3-2 road victory over Sparta Prague.

Both of Sparta’s goals were scored on deflections by captain Michal Řepík. His first goal was the only one of the first period. Just past the six-minute mark, he provided a screen in front of Pirates goalie George Sørensen and tipped Adam Polášek’s point shot in.

Undaunted, however, the Danish visitors went back to work and matched Sparta stride for stride the rest of the first period and into the second. They tied it at 25:19 shortly after the expiration of a power play. Emil Marcussen’s initial shot rang off the goalpost, but Oliver Anker made no mistake on the rebound, roofing his shot and knocking the water bottle off the top of the net.

Just 57 seconds later, however, Sparta were back in the lead. This time, Řepík tipped Ondřej Mikliš’s floater from the point.

For a while after the 2-1 goal, Sparta put on some real pressure and almost widened their lead, but Aalborg tied it back up on the powerplay at 34:09 when Nikolaj Carstensen’s long shot through a crowd beat a screened Jakub Kovář.

The third period was largely uneventful until the Pirates started getting chances while the teams were skating 4-on-4, which continued with the teams back at full strength. Captain Julian Jakobsen started the play that led to the winning goal, passing to Oskar Drugge, whose shot was tipped by Korsgaard.

Predictably, Sparta put on tremendous pressure in the dying minutes with Kovař on the bench for a sixth attacker, but Sorensen and the Pirates held the fort, with their travelling fans cheering them on behind the net. They knew they had it in hand when the puck was cleared out of the zone with seconds to go, and the players poured off the bench in celebration.