Kevin David O'Neil scored the only goal of the shootout as the Herning Blue Fox finished their Champions Hockey League season with a 4-3 home-ice win over Playoff-bound Fribourg-Gottéron.

The Blue Fox desperately wanted to end the tournament on a high note before their home fans and outshot Fribourg 10-5 in the opening period. They opened the scoring at 9:27 when Phillip Louis Schultz fed Emil Løjborg Kristensen, who snapped a shot from the high slot that beat Loïc Galley over the blocker on the far side.

Fribourg managed to draw even on a buzzer-beater. Michael Kapla let go a one-timer from the top of the circle that George Lago Bachmann Sørensen stopped, but Yannick Rathgeb managed to put in the rebound just before first period expired.

Fribourg took the lead in the 32nd minute. A turnover in the neutral zone led to a 2-on-1 rush, and Nathan Marchon fed Kevin Nicolet for the finish. Herning thought they’d tied it just over a minute later but, following a Fribourg challenge for offside, it was called back.

Herning came on late in the period thanks to a double-minor for high-sticking to Rathgeb, on which Mathias Bau Hansen scored twice to tie it and regain the lead. Both goals came in the last 26 seconds of the four-minute penalty and both were assisted by Kristensen.

The first was a wrist shot from the top of the circle that a screened Galley got a piece of before the puck dribbled over the line. Then just 19 seconds later, Hansen took the puck hard to the net and scored on a brilliant move while being taken down.

Fribourg once again tied it on the powerplay early in the third period. Kapla set up Anthony Richard, who ripped a shot from the right-wing faceoff dot just under the crossbar.

The remainder of regulation time and overtime were scoreless, setting the stage for the shootout drama.